Citation practices in research article introductions: The interplay between disciplines and research methodologies

Abstract

Variations in citation practices have been studied from a wide range of perspectives. Nonetheless, little research has addressed how the interplay between disciplines and research methodologies can affect the formal representation of citations in research articles. This paper, adopting a multi-perspective design, is an attempt to fill this void by analyzing a purposive sample of 180 research article independent introductions from theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics journals, categorized into three research methodologies. Significant differences were found in these practices because of the disciplinary conventions and the research methodologies employed in the articles; however, the epistemological effects underlying research methodologies (i.e., how members of a discourse community perceive knowledge generation and use through knowledge validation and proving) were by far more evident than the disciplinary bearings.