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What Is The Citation?

JPB Gerald

JPB Gerald

— 3 min read
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“The value of jargon is to facilitate communication within a field. However, in many instances use of jargon inhibits communication with outsiders.”

That quote is from an article in, of all places, the official journal of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), and I believe, in writing the very first words of The Citation, it succinctly sums up what we’re trying to do here.

Scholarship has immense value when conducted and communicated effectively. Unfortunately, that “when” should really be an “if” given how rare this is.

Research is mostly published behind exorbitant paywalls, and even when it is briefly shared with the public, it’s written in a way that repels any lay person who might want to know something new. As the quote above says, it’s “within a field,” and that has some value. But what is the potential harm of knowledge remaining locked away both financially and linguistically?

Let me take you back to the winter of 2021-2022. When you hear the word “mild,” what comes to mind? For most, it’s the lowest level on the spice meter, the salsa you buy to avoid acid reflux, the mouthwash that doesn’t sting. For an epidemiologist, within the field, it has an analogous but substantially different connotation, implying that a patient will fall ill but is less likely to require hospitalization or life-saving measures.

That winter, when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 surged, experts, while still warning the public to take precaution, used a word that lay people drew very different conclusions from than they themselves might have within their field. I’m not claiming that this caused more illness, however I’m using this example to point out that if you are doubled over on the floor but, sure, not calling an ambulance, the word “mild” doesn’t seem to fit.

My own mentor, who herself has a doctorate but not within medicine, said, after getting knocked flat by Omicron, “I don’t know why they’re calling it ‘mild.’”

Do you get my point?

At The Citation, we seek to build a publication that helps build a communicative bridge between scholars and the public, a bridge over a chasm of distrust and misinformation.

Perhaps it’s naïve of us to believe this, but people want to be informed, yet they don’t have the time to read lengthy articles, they don’t have the training to understand academic language, and they don’t have the money to pay for journals. They might have the money to pay for newspaper subscriptions, but the version of data that ends up in said publications is often clickbait at best, and deliberately inaccurate at worst.

Speaking of money, The Citation isn’t free. This preview issue will remain available to all, and all future issues will have a free section before the paywall, but what we can assure you is that all of the subscription money will go directly to the staff of The Citation and the scholars you’ll be reading about. Scholarly labor is sorely undervalued, and we are attempting to right this wrong, while also bringing you the knowledge you’re curious about but have little way to attain.

So. The Citation is:

  • A twice-monthly publication (1st and 3rd Thursday of the month), consisting of a free introduction, and then, for paid subscribers, plain language Snapshots of 4 recent scholarly publications, centered around a currently relevant theme. All Snapshots will be written by humans and not created by anything artificial. Scholars will have approved all said Snapshots of their articles, which will be cited and linked (even if the articles themselves require journal memberships).
  • A growing community of scholars, students, professionals, parents, and anyone interested in real data explained in a clear and engaging fashion. Subscribers are encouraged to comment on posted editions and connect with one another.
  • A small, quiet attempt to raise up the voices and the hard work of the people creating knowledge in a time when agreeing upon the truth is a rarity.

We want you to subscribe, and please, if this interests you at all, tell your friends and colleagues and parents and even bright children who want to know as much as possible.

Thank you.

Now, onto this Preview Edition.

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