Abstract:

Several decades ago, academic excellence among faculty was majorly determined by teaching and research. In contemporary times however, an aspect of research known as citation that was not previously considered essential has suddenly emerged as a cogent factor through the advancement in science and technology. As citation has become vital criteria for ranking academic excellence globally, studies have shown that it has also become a symbol of manipulation among some journal editors and individual scholars. With respect to editors, previous studies have shown that citation has been providing an opportunity for some publishing companies to engage in coercive citations while other studies have found individual scholars indulging in self-citations to receive undeserved or unjustified academia merit. The act of manipulating citations (coercive and self-citations) has long been explored in several studies in developed nations but such efforts are yet to be adequately explored in the literature emanating from Nigeria. The dearth of literature on citations in Nigeria could be responsible for the poor ranking of her scholars and tertiary institutions. It is on this ground that this paper is conceived to discuss the: (i) the problems associated with citations (coercive and self-citations) which Nigerian authors may not have been well acquitted with; (ii) reasons for indulging in coercive and self-citations; and (iii) solutions to the problems associated with citations in order to ensure academic integrity.