Citation patterns in music science

Citation can be thought of as a currency in academia. More citations typically means more recognition and can lead to more grants, promotion & tenure. The number of times an author is cited can be used to calculate an "author-level metric" like the h-index, a sort of proxy for productivity and quality. High citation, with citation as currency, is power. In a meritocracy, this makes sense: good work is recognized and therefore often cited, so a high citation count means high quality. Citation is also a way to demonstrate breadth and depth of knowledge and to show relationships between research.

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Analysis of citation patterns in fields such as geography, economics and psychology have found that citations are biased: more specifically, white men first-authors tend to be cited most often. There are many reasons why this might be, including that Google Scholar itself has racial and gender bias. The development of a citational politic - 'conscientious engagement' (Mott & Cockayne, 2017) - is one way individuals can help distribute power more equitably through citation practice.

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So far, there is no published analysis of citation patterns in the field of music science. The field is relatively young, arguably emerging as a 'field of study' in the late 1970s to 1980s. Of the researchers publishing at this time, several were women. As an active member of the field, I (Sarah) feel the field is gender diverse. I wonder, do the citation patterns in our field match our demographics? If yes, the field is an important example of how gender diversity can have systemic effects on equity. If not, then we have to take a closer look at why bias persists.

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This project is suitable for an undergraduate honours or master's thesis, for example analyzing citations in a subset of a select journal (or more, for master's). It is also suitable for a PhD project where it can expand according to the interests of the student. For example, it could expand to examine several journals, perhaps dividing by sub-field, examining geography as well as gender and looking at relationships between citations, for example are citations reciprocal, where and in what contexts?