Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors

Citation practices are crucial in academic discourse for both knowledge construction and interpersonal interaction. While prior research in academic English has explored citation practices among expert and novice authors, there is a notable gap in studies focusing on Chinese academic papers. Moreove...

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Main Authors: Xue Gong, Ruoxi Liu, Chuanbo Ji
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1515323/full
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author Xue Gong
Ruoxi Liu
Chuanbo Ji
author_facet Xue Gong
Ruoxi Liu
Chuanbo Ji
author_sort Xue Gong
collection DOAJ
description Citation practices are crucial in academic discourse for both knowledge construction and interpersonal interaction. While prior research in academic English has explored citation practices among expert and novice authors, there is a notable gap in studies focusing on Chinese academic papers. Moreover, it remains uncertain whether insights from English-language corpora can be extrapolated to other linguistic contexts. This study presents a comparative analysis of citation practices among expert and novice authors within the field of Chinese Applied Linguistics. Utilizing a corpus of 715,000 Chinese words, we analyzed academic papers authored by both groups. Our findings reveal that citation practices between expert and novice authors are largely comparable. Specifically, integral citations were more prevalent than non-integral citations, with the cited authors predominantly occupying the subject position. In terms of citation form, the four types employed, in descending order of frequency, were summary, block quote, generalization, and quote. The analysis of reporting markers showed a predominance of discourse markers, followed by research markers, with cognitive markers being the least frequent. Notably, novice authors demonstrated certain deficiencies compared to their expert counterparts, including an overreliance on integral citations, a reduced use of generalization and block quote citations, and limited integration of information regarding reporting markers.
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spelling doaj-art-921ba04407e14a3bbdf6cdc1499b6a092025-08-20T03:44:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-04-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.15153231515323Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authorsXue Gong0Ruoxi Liu1Chuanbo Ji2School of Humanities and Law, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, ChinaSchool of Chinese as a Second Language, Faculty of Humanities, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Chinese as a Second Language, Faculty of Humanities, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaCitation practices are crucial in academic discourse for both knowledge construction and interpersonal interaction. While prior research in academic English has explored citation practices among expert and novice authors, there is a notable gap in studies focusing on Chinese academic papers. Moreover, it remains uncertain whether insights from English-language corpora can be extrapolated to other linguistic contexts. This study presents a comparative analysis of citation practices among expert and novice authors within the field of Chinese Applied Linguistics. Utilizing a corpus of 715,000 Chinese words, we analyzed academic papers authored by both groups. Our findings reveal that citation practices between expert and novice authors are largely comparable. Specifically, integral citations were more prevalent than non-integral citations, with the cited authors predominantly occupying the subject position. In terms of citation form, the four types employed, in descending order of frequency, were summary, block quote, generalization, and quote. The analysis of reporting markers showed a predominance of discourse markers, followed by research markers, with cognitive markers being the least frequent. Notably, novice authors demonstrated certain deficiencies compared to their expert counterparts, including an overreliance on integral citations, a reduced use of generalization and block quote citations, and limited integration of information regarding reporting markers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1515323/fullChinese applied linguisticscitation practicesexpert authorsnovice authorsacademic writing
spellingShingle Xue Gong
Ruoxi Liu
Chuanbo Ji
Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors
Frontiers in Psychology
Chinese applied linguistics
citation practices
expert authors
novice authors
academic writing
title Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors
title_full Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors
title_fullStr Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors
title_full_unstemmed Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors
title_short Citation practices in applied linguistics: a comparative study of Chinese expert and novice authors
title_sort citation practices in applied linguistics a comparative study of chinese expert and novice authors
topic Chinese applied linguistics
citation practices
expert authors
novice authors
academic writing
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1515323/full
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AT ruoxiliu citationpracticesinappliedlinguisticsacomparativestudyofchineseexpertandnoviceauthors
AT chuanboji citationpracticesinappliedlinguisticsacomparativestudyofchineseexpertandnoviceauthors