ECS Weekly: Broadening citation practices, webinar on how to transition from academia to a science and medical writing career, new Genetics in your world podcast episode

This week’s guest resource section discusses broadening citations for a more diverse field and was written by Matthew Hahn of the Equity and Inclusion Committee.

Broadening citation practices
Under-citation of women in science (Larivière et al. 2013; Chatterjee and Werner 2021) and minorities in other fields (where the analysis has been done; Chakravartty et al. 2018) is well documented. There are many underlying causes, including male authors having increased numbers of self-citations, publications in higher impact journals, and increased membership in large international collaborations (King et al. 2017; Andersen et al. 2019; Fox and Paine 2019). In addition, there is “gender homophily”: male authors are more likely to cite other males, and female authors are more likely to cite other females (Ghiasi et al. 2018).

While the absolute differences in citations are not huge, citation numbers impact how scientists are judged when evaluated for awards, promotions, and jobs. It is therefore in our profession’s best interests to ensure that we examine our own citation biases and predispositions. Regularly reconsidering the papers we cite is a great way to stay on top of current literature and to dig more deeply into the origins of ideas.

To find the origin of scientific ideas and methods, start by searching back in time from the papers you currently cite. While searching the past does not necessarily enrich citations for under-represented authors (due to past under-representation), this practice can help to highlight work carried out in non-model (and non-animal) systems.

To stay up to date on more recent literature, I suggest following the “Cited by” links on Google Scholar. Searching more recent citations highlights the evolution of ideas, their clarification and elucidation, and sometimes their refutation. Often original methods and studies are improved upon by researchers from a wide range of backgrounds. And there’s no reason to stop citing your favorite classic paper. These suggestions should not reduce the number of papers we cite. At most journals citations are free and unlimited. Be generous!

The onus of improving the paper citation also falls on editors and reviewers, who can play a constructive role in suggesting references to authors that may help them place their results in a broader context or see new implications of their work. This can be done in a collegial way and can take place during formal review at a journal or after reading an online preprint.

There are many ways we can broaden the scientific literature that we cite, through expansion of the papers we consider, as well as by simply being more aware of our own patterns of citation.

References:
Andersen et al. 2019. https://elifesciences.org/articles/45374
Chakravartty et al. 2018. https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/68/2/254/4958972
Chatterjee and Werner 2021. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2781617
Fox and Paine 2019. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.4993
Ghiasi et al. 2018. https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2729532/view
King et al. 2017. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2378023117738903
Larivière et al. 2013. https://www.nature.com/articles/504211a

GSA Early Career Leadership Program Resources

NEW! The next Science Communication Workshop entitled “How to transition from academia to a science and medical writing career” will be held on July 5, 2022. This panel discussion is designed for early career researchers in academia who are considering transitioning to science or medical writing careers. Register today!

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Policy and Advocacy Subcommittee member, Sharifu Kiragga Tusuubira, is a third-year PhD candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program at the University of Kansas. His PhD work focuses on understanding the genomic basis of mating system evolution in yellow monkeyflower, by exploring the transition to self-fertilization using experimental evolution and quantitative trait loci mapping. Read more about his research interest and career plans on Genes to Genomes.

In 2020, GSA outlined a framework for building an equitable future for the GSA and the scientific enterprise as a whole. Part of that work includes understanding who our community comprises so that we can measure how we change and grow. Read more here, and take a moment to visit your membership profile and update your demographic information.

The Multimedia Subcommittee has published three episodes of the Genetics in Your World podcast. In the newest episode, Dr. Ishikawa talks about how he and colleagues adapted CRISPR interference for fission yeast, allowing controllable reversible and efficient transcriptional repression. Check out all the episodes here or via your podcast app of choice!

Career Development Subcommittee member Melissa Drown recently published interview insights from a discussion with Dr. Tara Zeynep Baris about her transition to a career in data science. Read more from her Decoding Life article here!

Congratulations to Accessibility Subcommittee advisor Dr. Stephen Klusza on his recent publication in GENETICS: Distinct developmental phenotypes result from mutation of Set8/KMT5A and histone H4 lysine 20 in Drosophila melanogaster. Read about the study and access the article here!

NEW! Marah Wahbeh of the Policy and Advocacy Subcommittee, ECLP alumna and GSA Membership, Engagement, and Early Career Programs Manager Jessica Vélez, and GSA member Arby Abood gave a presentation for the eLife Ambassador Program about our Multilingual Seminar Series. Read about the presentation and watch the recording here.

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H3ABIONET, Pan African Bioinformatics Network for H3Africa is hosting its seventh iteration of Introduction to Bioinformatics Training Course. Applications are due June 3, 2022.

The OIST Foundation is pleased to announce the Call for Applications for the inaugural Japan-U.S. Science Communication & Policy Fellowship Network Program, supported by The Japan Foundation. Applications are due June 3, 2022.

The Northwest Native American Research Center For Health (NW NARCH) will host a summer research training program from June 13–30, 2022, to nurture a cadre of highly trained AI/AN biomedical and health researchers who are sensitive to the culture and specific concerns of Northwest Indian and Alaska Native communities, and who can bring the benefits of academic research into their communities to improve tribal health. Register here.

Calling all clinical researchers in the early stages of their careers! Are you looking to promote your development to a fully independent position? If so, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites you to participate in the NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program. Applications are due June 24, 2022.

The 2022 Lerner Research Institute Morgenthaler Graduate Student Symposium Application is now open! Cleveland Clinic is inviting select PhD students nationwide for an all expenses paid opportunity to attend and present at the inaugural Morgenthaler Symposium. Applications are due July 15, 2022.

Current professional development and training opportunities

Sign up as a crowd preprint reviewer! ASAPbio invites cell biologists, biochemists and researchers in infectious diseases to sign up as crowd preprint reviewers. Participating as a crowd preprint reviewer is a great opportunity to develop your reviewing skills and to support trust in preprints.

A webinar titled, Research assessments and preprints in India, will assess the role of preprints in India, one of the highest producers of research. Register to attend on June 7, 2022.

NEW! Join a conference for biology teachers who wish to bring Drosophila genetics and inquiry-based lesson plans to their classroom on July 30, 2022. This one-day, online conference is intended to help instructors teach Drosophila research approaches to their students. Register here.

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) DataWorks! Prize annual challenge showcases the benefits of research data management while recognizing and rewarding teams whose research demonstrates the power of data sharing or reuse practices to advance scientific discovery and human health. Read more about this year’s challenge and participate in the competition here.

The 2022 AISES National Conference will be held in Palm Springs, CA this year from October 6–8, 2022. This conference is a unique, three-day event focusing on educational, professional, and workforce development for Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers. Register today!