An Autoethnographic Perspective on Scholarly Impact, Citation Politics, and North–South Power Dynamics

Abstract

Citations signal the significance and impact of publication outputs, conferring prestige within an academic prestige economy. The longstanding academic mandate to ‘publish or perish’ has been married with the modern expectation to ‘demonstrate impact or perish,’ reflecting an evolution in scholarly priorities and imposing a ‘double burden’ on scholars, particularly on early-career researchers and marginalised voices. I examine factors influencing citation metrics through an autoethnographic lens, situating them within my subjective experiences and exploring their broader implications. Drawing on my research portfolio from 2016 to 2022, which focuses on Nigerian society, I discuss how research location and other contextual factors shape scholarly impact and citation metrics. Disparities in citation rates between Western and non-Western regions reflect unequal power, resources, and recognition distributions. I assess the interaction between citation metrics and the significance of my research portfolio, which includes five empirical and two conceptual peer-reviewed articles. While I reflect on my delayed recognition of these citation metrics and impact dynamics after earning my doctorate, I advocate for improved education on these factors in social science graduate curricula. Citations are not mere appendages: they are the lifeblood coursing through the veins of academia’s ecosystem.