There are many theories that have been put forward to explain the importance of the citations in the academic text. They all vary with the opinions of the authors or textbooks that can be validate in different manners. Some experts have highlighted the ethical aspect of citations. For example, some textbooks claim that citations are used to recognize and acknowledge the intellectual property rights of authors. According to this view, citations are a matter of ethics and a defense against plagiarism.
A similar idea is that citations are used to show respect to previous scholars by recognizing the history of the field and acknowledging previous achievements. Ravetz (1971), for example, claims that citations operate as a kind of mutual reward system: rather than pay other authors money for their contributions, writers “pay” them in citations.
Some researchers have also emphasized the benefits of citations in terms of authors’ authority. For instance, in Gilbert’s work (1977), citations are viewed as tools of persuasion. Writers use citations to give their statements greater authority. Bavelas (1978), following a similar line of reasoning, argues that citations are used to supply evidence that the author qualifies as a member of the chosen scholarly community: citations, in other words, are used to demonstrate familiarity with the field.
Moreover, other scholars, taking Swales (1990) as an example, have paid attention to the method of citation. He states that citations are used to create a research space (CARS) for the citing author. By describing what has been done, citations point the way to what has not been done and so prepare a space for new research.
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