The 20 Golden Rules for Increasing Your Citation Numbers

Your articles’ number of citations are crucial for your career. Out of thousands of articles in your field, your article can be cited most. The number of citations also indicates the impact of your article on the literature. How would you like to be cited by scholars from around the world?

You can increase the number of citations of your articles by using these 20 techniques:

1- If your unpublished work is related to a work you have already published, then make sure that you cite it. By citing your published works, you can both raise the profile of all your studies and increase your articles’ number of citations by more than 50%. You should make sure that your self-citations are relevant to your new work, and that you do not quote more than 20 to 30% of an article. However, do not refer to every article you have published for the sake of increasing your citation. You can also increase your h-index by quoting from your works.
2- Quote the leading scholars in your field.  Show that you know the work of your field’s prominent researchers by quoting them. You can also enhance the quality of your work by including findings from their studies. This will also lead you to use more accurate terminology for new concepts. Quoting leading scholars has a great impact on your citation numbers.
3- Publish in journals that have a high impact factor. Articles in journals with a high impact factor are cited more frequently. Your publications will be noticed by a large number of people since such journals have readers from around the world.
4- Select your keywords attentively. Many journals have word limits of 4 to 8 for keywords, so you should choose them carefully. To increase your work’s visibility in databases, choose the keywords that best describe your topic and that researchers are most likely to use for web searches. For selecting your keywords, you can use online sites such as MeSH on Demand.
5- Use the keywords of your study in the title and abstract frequently. Frequently using your keywords increases the likelihood of your work rising to the top of search engine lists, which will get you more citations.
6- Quote your colleagues. Another key technique for maximizing your citation numbers is to quote your colleagues’ work. This also shows that you know the latest research well. You should quote your colleagues as much as possible, and you should also quote colleagues whose findings conflict with yours. Articles are more likely to be cited in journals that publish articles with many citations.
7- Use your name consistently in all of your articles. Using the same name for all your articles will make them easier for others to identify. If your name is a common name, you should definitely have an online account with ORCID or ResearcherlD. You should share your identity in your e-mail signature and access your publication list using a link or this identity so that anyone you e-mail can easily access your publications.
8- Make sure your information is accurate. Proofread the final draft of your article to ensure that your name and your institution’s name are spelled correctly, and that database searches will accurately access your article. You should not use abbreviations for your institutional credentials. Write them out in full.
9- Choose comprehensive topics for your articles. You will have less difficulty in finding references for comprehensive topics, so your articles will be cited more frequently. Otherwise, you will only be able to cite a few other scholars and also be cited by fewer researchers’ articles. You should write long articles with many references. You should not choose topics that are questions. Studies that include good explanations are also more likely to be cited.
10- Be unique and innovative. Uniqueness and novelty increase the likelihood of getting your article published. Discovering a form of expression that is unique in your field and using it throughout your academic career will increase your citation numbers.
11- Make your articles easily accessible. Open access increases citation numbers. However, if your article has not been published in an open access journal, you should send pre- and post-publication editions to a pool. You should also self-archive by storing the articles you publish in peer-reviewed journals on your own website or free electronic archives, and you should share them with everyone on open access platforms. Check the link to SHERPA/RoMEO to find publishers’ copyright and self-archiving policies regarding the sharing of published articles.
12- Share your data. Be sure to publish in-depth research findings and to share your data. There is some evidence that sharing your article will increase its citation numbers. You should send your work to data-sharing platforms such as Figshare and SlideShare, websites, contribute to Wikipedia and add links to your published works.
13- Stress the importance of your article. Tell people about the importance of your articles. You should also take part in the conferences, meetings and discussions of scholarly organizations. Although your article may not be cited by others during conference presentations, presenting it at a conference will make it more visible to academic and research organizations. You should also take advantage of the press bulletins provided by publishers and the public relations agencies of many institutions. You should also create podcasts to complete your project or prepare educational programs for scientific studies. Using YouTube, TedTalks, TedEd Lessons, Dynamic Posters or Prezi you can also spread information about your work to large numbers of people.
14- Write influential articles. Send your best and most persuasive articles to the most field-specific and prestigious journals with the highest numbers of abstract publications and indexes. Make sure you choose journals that are popular in your field. You should study popular subjects, use compelling titles, and prepare clearly written abstracts. Get feedback about your article as you design it and as a draft. Keep in mind that even rejection is a first step, and that a previously rejected article may be cited more frequently after being accepted.
15- Do joint work with authors from other countries. Co-authored articles get more citations. Doing joint work with authors from other countries, Nobel Prize winners or well-known authors in your field will increase your citation numbers. You can also do joint work with authors from other fields.
16- Introduce your article actively. Try to spread information about your articles to as many people as possible. Discuss your articles with other researchers even from other fields, and send copies to all the researcher you think it may interest. Send hard copies to the authors you have cited or you know it will interest. You should also create a blog or website for your research and share it with others. You can also increase your recognition by adding your latest published article to your e-mail signature.
17- Use social media. Actively use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Academia.edu, ResearchGate and Mendeley to spread information about your articles. You should create pages about your research, open discussions, and participate in discussions. Talk with people from around the world and ask questions. Write blog posts, make updates, and talk about the conferences and meetings you attend. You should also demonstrate your knowledge of the field and even list your publications on your website. You should be very careful to keep your website up-to-date, and add links to your institutional profile page and your other social media pages.
18- Do a literature review. A well-written literature review contains many citations of the leading scholars in your field. Literature reviews are an effective way to increase your citation numbers, and thus impact factor.
19- Get citations by publishing your work in different media. Change title and text of an article you have prepared to present in a conference to prepare it for submission to a journal and add a citation of the conference text. This will increase your citation numbers and get you two publications.
20- Introduce your work to native and foreign academics by e-mail. Thousands of articles are published in every academic field. Since researchers have countless references to cite in their studies, it is quite unlikely that they will notice your article. You can access the e-mail address of the academics in your field through their university profiles. E-mails that include your publications will highlight them and increase your citation numbers.