Review and citation style in research article introductions: A comparative study between national and international english-medium journals in medical sciences

Abstract

Reviewing and citing literature are essential elements determining the quality of academic texts such as research articles (RAs); however, it is not easy to review and cite literature especially when writing in a foreign language such as Indonesians writing in English. The purpose of this study is to investigate the review and citation style in English RA introductions published in medical science journals written by Indonesian and international authors. Forty English RA introductions were analysed on the review and citation style and linguistic features such as tenses and citation type. The results show that there are more similarities than differences in the review and citation style and linguistic features of RA introductions in the two different medical journals. However, Indonesian writers in medical sciences should include negative evaluation when reviewing and citing other’s work in their English RA introductions to be successful if submitted to an international journal.