Evaluating the Relationship Between Moral Growth and Self-control Variables with "Self-citation" and "Total Citation Rates" in the Articles of the Top Authors of Iranian Medical Sciences Universities in 2017

The current study aimed at evaluating the relationship between moral growth and self-control variables with "self-citation" and "total citation rates" in the articles of the top authors of Iranian medical sciences’ universities in 2017.

The current cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the variables of the two domains of Scientometrics and social psychology, and their correlation type (model presentation). The target population in the first part of this research study includes all the writers who had an EH index of 10 or above in the scientific database of 2017. Sampling was done by systematic random sampling. The sample size at this stage was 120 according to the formula n = 104 + m and the study's history. In the citation analysis, two papers from each author were evaluated. The data collected during the first and second parts of the study were analyzed by Excel and SPSS 16.0. Finally, a regression analysis was performed based on the input method.

The results of the current study showed that the correlation coefficients of the level of moral development and self-citation model have a significant relationship, but the self-control variable does not have a significant relationship with the pattern of total citation rates. Also, there is a meaningful relationship between the self-citation pattern and the pattern of total citation rates. In the regression model by input method, only moral growth factor and self-control variables had the predictive power of predictive power (P <0.001), but the self-control variable could not be as The predictor of the authors' self-citation pattern is considered. The regression model between the variables of moral growth and self-control as predictive variables and the variable "total rate of citation" as a criterion variable is not significant based on the method of entry. In other words, none of the two variables of the level of moral development and self-control can be a predictive factor for the behavioral pattern of the total rate of citations of authors' articles.

According to the results of the current study, the power to explain the 17 percent change in the author's own citation pattern with the factor of the level of moral development suggests that social norms are the cause of real or imaginary pressures on authors, which ultimately leads to more self-citation by the author. The existence of a relationship between the factor of the "moral growth level" and the "self-citation" pattern of the writers as well as the predictive power of this pattern through the above factor is in some way a confirmation of the theory of Cronin's social structure in citation behavior. In other words, part of the self-referential behavior of writers is influenced by social pressures, and it depends on the writers’ level of moral development. Also, the context and primary basis in which the process of citation has taken place is effective in this process. These findings also unequivocally violate the normative theory of citation behavior that claims the citation merely reflects the cognitive or logical effects of scientific work.