From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 15:47:27 -0700

"Citation cartels" -- a new phrase for me, but this story from Science lays
out the known facts:

https://www.science.org/content/article/citation-cartels-help-some-mathematicians-and-their-universities-climb-rankings

Piling up citations is a way of building reputation and thus attracting
readers and viewers in a benevolent frame of mind.  I confess that (a) when
I started reading this story, it seemed a little click-baity and I thought
perhaps I should be suspicious but (b) when I saw that it was published in
Science -- with all its prestige -- I decided that this was real and worth
sharing.  I say this just to corroborate that we all make decisions how to
extend our attention and credulity based on heuristics of one sort or
another -- reputation, citation count, ease of access, etc.  Learning how
to play to the public's heuristics is a valuable skill.

Jim O'Donnell
ASU