Citing Your Sources
Scholarship as Conversation
The infographic below explores the importance of finding a diverse variety of scholarly perspectives and viewpoints on a topic.
How to Identify Present & Absent Voices
The infographic below explores some of the questions you can ask of a source in order to identify whose voices are present and whose are absent.
For more information:
What is Inclusive Scholarship?
Inclusive scholarship is the intentional practice of recognizing and citing a diverse range of voices, perspectives, and sources in academic and creative work. Through it, we seek to address systemic inequities in knowledge creation by ensuring that scholars and ideas from historically underrepresented communities are acknowledged and valued.
Inclusive scholarship does not mean that we make a practice of citing work from scholars simply because of their background. Rather, it is an opportunity to think critically about where traditional academia has sought information, and to recognize that we have the opportunity to expand and enrich our well of knowledge by including new and diverse scholarly voices in our research and conversations.
Why is Inclusive Scholarship Important?
Consider the following quote from the Conference on College Composition & Communication (2022):
"Citation is not only a way we build ethos and credibility for making arguments, but, perhaps more importantly, a decision to amplify some voices over others, and an argument about whose voices and perspectives are valid, credible, and worth drawing from as we build knowledge in the discipline."
Traditionally in academia, we have ascribed authority to authors that possess credentials and perspectives that historically have been accessible only to privileged groups. In doing so, we have overlooked voices outside this norm as "untrustworthy." Similarly, when we evaluate information on the basis of objectivity and impartiality, we have traditionally done so in ways that only serve to reinforce the dominant perspectives, leading to a masking of inherent biases and excluding diverse viewpoints.
Inclusive scholarship is crucial because it challenges systemic biases in academic and intellectual traditions by amplifying voices that have been excluded or overlooked. By diversifying citations, we seek to do the following:
- Promote a richer and more inclusive knowledge base
- Guide learners and researchers in engaging with a broader range of ideas
- Ensure that credit is fairly distributed, fostering ethical academic practices and supporting a culture of accountability and equity in scholarly work
Present and Absent Voices in Research
The following video discusses how to identify present and absent voices in research, including examples of collections that spotlight underrepresented voices.
Strategies for Practicing Inclusive Scholarship
Inclusive scholarship is an intentional practice that calls for you to be open to changing your patterns of research in order to practice citation equity. The following strategies can help you frame your thinking and research approach around inclusive scholarship:
- Diversify Your Sources: Actively seek out research and perspectives from underrepresented scholars, including works by women, scholars of color, Indigenous researchers, and scholars from the LGBTQIA+ community. Use tools like citation databases and institutional repositories to uncover diverse voices. Do not make assumptions about race, gender, or the author's background. Do your research!
- Critically Examine Existing Citation Patterns: Reflect on the sources you frequently cite and identify patterns of exclusion or overrepresentation. Aim to balance your references to include perspectives from different identities disciplines.
- Read Beyond Your Comfort Zone: Commit to reading outside your usual academic circles or preferred journals. Explore works published in journals or by publishers focused on equity and inclusion, or engage with scholarship written in other languages.
- Acknowledge Power Dynamics: Be mindful of how power dynamics in academia influence what is considered "legitimate" knowledge. By citing scholars and sources that challenge dominant paradigms, you contribute to creating a more inclusive and equitable academic landscape.
Resources for Identifying Absent Voices
Shapiro Library Databases
The following library databases have collections of resources focuses on specific populations.
- Black Thought and Culture - Alexander Street This link opens in a new windowBlack Thought and Culture is a landmark collection of approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history. In addition to the most familiar works, it includes previously inaccessible material, including letters, speeches, prefatory essays, political leaflets, interviews, periodicals, and trial transcripts. The ideas of over 1,000 authors present an evolving and complex view of what it is to be black in America.
- Contemporary Women's Issues (CWi) - Gale This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary, full-text database that brings together relevant content from mainstream periodicals, "gray" literature, and the alternative press -- with a focus on the critical issues and events that influence women's lives in more than 190 countries. If the screen appears blank when you try to access this database, please make sure that your browser is not blocking popups.
- East & South Asia Database- ProQuest This link opens in a new windowThis database includes locally published full-text scholarly journals from many East and South Asian countries covering many subject areas including business, science, technology, engineering, social sciences, education, humanities, and more.
- East Europe, Central Europe Database - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowThis database includes locally published full-text scholarly journals from many Eastern and Central European countries covering many subject areas including business, science, technology, engineering, social sciences, education, humanities, and more
- Latin America & Iberia Database - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowThis database includes locally published full-text scholarly journals from many Latin American countries, Spain, and Portugal covering many subject areas including business, science, technology, engineering, social sciences, education, humanities, and more.
- LGBT Magazine Archive - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowContains archives of many of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. Includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. Chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community. Covers 1954 - 2015.
- LGBTQ+ Source - EBSCO This link opens in a new windowThis database provides full-text coverage for the most important literature regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Offering a variety of scholarly, popular and regional resources, it includes journals, books, magazines and more.
- Middle East & Africa Database - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowThis database includes locally published full-text scholarly journals from many Middle Eastern and African countries covering many subject areas including business, science, technology, engineering, social sciences, education, humanities, and more.
Web Resources
The following web resources can help you source content from diverse perspectives as well as check your reference lists for hidden biases
- 500 Women Scientists This link opens in a new windowThe mission of 500 Women Scientists is to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible and transform society by fighting racism, patriarchy, and oppressive societal norms.
- Cite Black Authors This link opens in a new windowWe seek to enhance recognition and citation of black academic voices. Our approach requires a shift from traditional citation practices that are passive and white-centric to active citation practices that both quantify and equilibrate racial representation.
- Cite Black Women Collective This link opens in a new window"Cite Black Women. Black women have been producing knowledge since we blessed this earth. We theorize, we innovate, we revolutionize the world. We do not need mediators. We do not need interpreters. It is time to disrupt the canon. It is time to upturn the erasures of history."
- CiteHER Bibliography This link opens in a new windowblackcomputeHER.org is dedicated to supporting computing+tech education and workforce development for Black women and girls. Our aim is to address the lack of inclusion in the discipline by providing access to opportunity, education & training, and executive thought leadership.
- Citation Transparency Google Chrome Extension This link opens in a new windowIn many fields, men and women are not cited at the level that one would expect given their prevalence in the field. One way we can help mitigate this bias is by making the perceived genders of first and last authors of papers more transparent in the search for references. Towards this goal, this extension adds probabilistic gender information to paper searches on Google Scholar and PubMed.
- Diversity Bibliography Code This link opens in a new windowThe goal of the coding notebook is to analyze the predicted gender and race of first and last authors in reference lists of manuscripts in progress, using a .bib file. Includes instructions.
- Gender Citation Balance Index (GCBI) Tool This link opens in a new windowThe GCBI tool allows you to copy and paste your bibliography and DOIs to determine the GCBI for your citations.
References and Further Readings
- Advancing the grand challenge to eliminate racism: A call to action for citational justice in social work This link opens in a new windowBaffour, T., Garcia, M., & Rich, M. (2024). Advancing the grand challenge to eliminate racism: A call to action for citational justice in social work. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work: Innovation in Theory, Research & Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2024.2406257
- Position Statement on Citation Justice in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies This link opens in a new windowConference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC). (2022). Position Statement on Citation Justice in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies. https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/citation-justice
- #CommunicationSoWhite This link opens in a new windowChakravartty, P., Kuo, R., Grubbs, V., & McIlwain, C. (2018). #CommunicationSoWhite. Journal of Communication, 68(2), 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy003
- (In)citing Action to Realize an Equitable Future This link opens in a new windowDworkin, J., Zurn, P., & Bassett, D. S. (2020). (In)citing Action to Realize an Equitable Future. Neuron, 106(6), 890–894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.05.011
- Cultivating a Conscientious Citation Practice This link opens in a new windowEidinger, A. (2019). Cultivating a Conscientious Citation Practice. Unwritten Histories: The Unwritten Rules of History. https://www.unwrittenhistories.com/cultivating-a-conscientious-citation-practice/
- Researcher Positionality -- A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research -- A New Researcher Guide This link opens in a new windowHolmes, A. G. D. (2020). Researcher Positionality -- A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research -- A New Researcher Guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232
- Rethinking Authority and Bias: Modifying the CRAAP Test to Promote Critical Thinking about Marginalized Information This link opens in a new windowJaeger-McEnroe, E. (2025). Rethinking Authority and Bias: Modifying the CRAAP Test to Promote Critical Thinking about Marginalized Information. College & Research Libraries News, 86(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.86.1.12
- Intersectional inequalities in science This link opens in a new windowKozlowski, D., Lariviere, V., Sugimoto, C. R., & Monroe-White, T. (2022). Intersectional inequalities in science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(2), e2113067119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113067119
- The rise of citational justice: how scholars are making references fairer This link opens in a new windowKwon, D. (2022). The rise of citational justice: how scholars are making references fairer. Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science, 603(7902), 568–571. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00793-1
- Citation matters: mobilizing the politics of citation toward a practice of ‘conscientious engagement.’ This link opens in a new windowMott, C., & Cockayne, D. (2017). Citation matters: mobilizing the politics of citation toward a practice of ‘conscientious engagement.’ Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 24(7), 954–973. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2017.1339022
SNHU Shapiro Library acknowledges the use of ChatGPT 4o, a large language model developed by OpenAI, in the preparation of the content of this guide.