When Do Citations Reflect “Impact?”

Citation behaviors vary widely between and within STM and HSS; within particular disciplines citations can also play sharply different kinds of roles. The complexity of adducing scholarly significance from citation metrics is further increased as scholars may use citations differently from one publication to the next.  The Chicago Manual of Style (16th Ed.) tells us in Chapter 14.1 that the basic “purpose of source citations” is, as a requirement of “ethics, copyright laws, and courtesy to readers” to “identify the source of direct quotations or paraphrase and of any facts or opinions not generally known or easily checked.” “Conventions vary according to discipline,” theCMS cautions, “the preferences of publishers and authors, and the needs of a particular work.” The CMS doesn’t have much to say about citation indices, and impact.
Source: The Scholarly Kitchen
URL: Full text