The Global Open Access Journal of Science (GOAJS) upholds strict guidelines for accurate and ethical citation practices. Authors are expected to acknowledge all relevant prior work and provide complete and properly formatted citations to support their research.

Expectations for Citations

• All sources of information, ideas, data, and methods not originating with the authors must be cited appropriately.
• Only published or publicly accessible work should be cited. Personal communications must be explicitly indicated and cited with permission.
• Authors must ensure that citations are accurate, relevant, and support the claims made in the manuscript.
• Excessive or irrelevant citations that do not add scholarly value are discouraged.

Improper Citation Practices

• Plagiarism or copying references without reading or understanding the content is strictly prohibited.
• Manipulating citation counts (e.g., citation stacking or coercive citation) is considered unethical and may result in disciplinary actions.

GOAJS allows appropriate self-citation when it is scientifically necessary and directly relevant to the content of the manuscript. However, authors must avoid excessive or gratuitous self-citation intended to boost personal citation metrics.

Permissible Self-Citation

• Authors may cite their previous work when it is directly relevant to the topic being discussed.
• Self-citations should not exceed a reasonable proportion of the total references (typically no more than 20%).

Unacceptable Practices

• Including irrelevant self-citations purely to increase citation counts is unethical.
• Reviewers and editors must not coerce authors into citing their work unnecessarily.

Monitoring and Enforcement

GOAJS routinely monitors citation patterns. Manuscripts with unusually high rates of self-citation may be subject to editorial review, revision, or rejection. Editors and reviewers are expected to follow the same standards regarding citations.