For any professional researcher, the number of papers they can get legitimized is of great importance. Publishing well-researched papers with enough frequency and proper timing is a herculean task. Timing and clear research are only some of the things you have to worry about. Article citations can single-handedly dictate the legitimacy and reach of your paper. Today, we will be discussing the ways you can increase your citation count.
Increasing your citation count is what gets your paper noticed by peers, funding agencies, and news outlets. Oftentimes, you are included as a part of several other related papers. Keep that in mind as we continue.
What are Article Citations?
An article citation is simply how you give a source to any piece of information in your paper that was taken from something else. For example, if you used a statistic from John Doe’s paper, you would include his original paper as a citation for the statistic. This is done to prevent plagiarism and to further support your paper. If you cite facts from well-respected papers, then you are more likely to be seen as legitimate.
Article citations are often included in the last few pages of your paper. Whether you’re the one citing or being the one cited, make sure that the citation is done in the proper format. The style will be done in APA or MLA depending on the institution,
Tips to Increase Article Citation
Cite Often
Remember, citing articles is all about strengthening knowledge on a specific topic. If you want to be cited, you must cite other works. Do not simply rely on the strength of your own research. By citing the research of your colleagues, it improves the legitimacy of your paper. In addition, you can also cite your own past papers. Make sure they are relevant to your current topic of research. However, do not overdo your own citations. It cannot account for more than a fifth of all of your citations.
Be generous but reasonable with your citations. Make sure to not cite papers simply for the sake of increasing your citation count. Always include it when you are sure the two papers are related.
Use Relevant Keywords
Keywords are terms that are usually associated with the topic at hand. For example, if your research paper is on carbon emissions, keywords would be words such as carbon, emissions, greenhouse gases, greenhouse gas effects, and so forth. More advanced keyword use would involve whole phrases such as “lowering carbon emissions, controlling carbon footprint” and other such examples.
Repeating keywords like this is crucial. This significantly improves the likelihood of your paper showing up as a result on online databases. Of course, do your due research and don’t overdo the repetition. Databases can also detect egregious use of keywords that stray from being relevant to the article itself.
Be Informative and Concise
Your paper needs to be full of concrete facts (supported by cited articles) presented in an engaging and easy-to-read manner. Papers that are too dull or embroiled in the hypothesis are often not cited by peer studies. Wherever your paper ends up published, being informative and engaging can help your article get more citations.
When doing your research, make sure that the facts you included are from trusted sources. If the source happens to be a bit too technical in a field that is not yours, make an effort to translate it to a wider audience without sacrificing the nuances.
Share Your Paper
Do not rely on your paper’s popularity coming from just posting it on a website or database. Do your due diligence in sharing your paper everywhere that it can be read by relevant parties. Sharing your data to academic websites can be one way, but social media of any kind provides you with significantly more reach.
It doesn’t have to be online either. You can bring your work to conferences and classes to share your work with other academics. This can help you build camaraderie with other researchers and improve your chances of being cited by them shortly.
Show Your Work’s Importance
In your paper, make it clear why you believe your paper is important. While it is important to you, you must communicate the concrete benefits of it to others. You can start your paper with a call to action as to why your research can improve the field you are writing for. Write an eye-catching title that clearly communicates the content of your paper. The tone of your writing should reflect your goals clearly.
You can have a well-researched paper that’s easy to read, but for people to want to cite it, they must be given a reason to. Encourage your readers to explore their learning depth of the topic. After all, your goals as a researcher are to inform the world of something they need to know. You just have to convince them that it’s true.
