The Behavior of Citing: A Perspective on Science Communication Across Languages

This article addresses the perceptions and behavior of Chinese tourism researchers citing foreign language sources in (for) their own studies. Theoretically sensitized to notions of dissemination of knowledge and science communication, and departing from the ongoing measurement of citation impacts, the study adopts a qualitative approach to the scrutiny of citer perceptions and behavior in the instances of citing sources from other languages. Observations and narratives from in-depth interviews with 24 active Chinese tourism researchers amply speak of the dynamics, politics, subjectivity, and at times irrationality of citing from foreign languages. In particular, the inductive analysis complements traditional scientometric perspectives on citation impacts and provides insights into the motivation, perceived benefits, facilitation, and constraints, as well as (re)presentations of cited ideas in the observed instances of science communication in tourism.