Ignored Papers, Invented Quotations: A History of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Given the high rate of alcoholism throughout history, its effects on the fetus may have existed for millennia. But, the claim that Greeks and Romans were aware of fetal alcohol syndrome rests on incorrect citations. From 1725, maternal alcohol consumption was associated with retarded fetal growth and neurological anomalies. From 1809, scientists followed Lamarck’s theory that the disorders parents acquire during their lifetime are passed on to their offspring. Fetal effects were thought to be inherited mainly from the father. During the 19th century, parental alcoholism became associated with malformations. In 1915, Ballantyne distinguished genetic influence via germ cells from toxin’s effect on the embryo. Fetal alcohol syndrome was characterized by Rouquette [Influence de la toxicomanie alcoolique parentale sur le développement physique et psychique des jeunes enfants] in 1957 and Lemoine et al. [Ouest Medical. 1968;21:476–482] in 1968 as consisting of 4 features: (A) facial anomalies (narrow forehead, retracted upper lip, and cupped ears), (B) severe growth retardation (prenatal and postnatal), (C) malformations (limbs, cardiac, and visceral), and (D) central nervous system anomalies (hyperexcitability and mental retardation). But, their studies, written in French, remained disregarded. In 1973, Jones et al. [Lancet. 1973;302:999–1001] reported “the first association between maternal alcoholism and aberrant morphogenesis in the offspring.” The history of fetal alcohol syndrome reveals shortcomings in citation practice. Alleged quotations remained unverified, non-English publications neglected, and short quotations taken out of context. Prejudiced by religious and abstinence groups, reports on alcohol damage to the unborn were fraught with emotions, moralizing, social implications, and presentism, the interpretation of past events with present knowledge.

Philo and the Septuagint

This chapter deals with the fundamental place of the LXX in the writings of Philo of Alexandria, with particular attention to the treatment of the LXX text in the following: (1) the Questions and Answers on Genesis and Exodus; (2) the Allegorical Commentary; (3) the Exposition of the Law; (4) the Life of Moses Books 1–2. It also discusses questions of Philo’s citation practice; terminology applied to Jewish sacred books; the transmission history of Philo’s scriptural citations; his presentation of the translation of the books of Moses on the island of Pharos (Mos. 2.25–44); his use of etymologies; and his knowledge of Hebrew.

ABOUT INCORRECT AND UNREPRESENTATIVE CITATION IN THE REVIEW “HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVE COPPER/DIAMOND COMPOSITES: STATE OF THE ART” BY S.J. JIA, F. YANG AND IN OTHER PAPERS

Several papers published in Elsevier and Springer journals in 2020–2021, in which there were numerous violations of standards concerning citation practice in scientific papers, are analyzed. These papers deal with high-thermal-conductive diamond/metal composites. The examples under consideration mainly concern composites prepared via deposition of tungsten coatings onto diamond particles. The revealed errors and distortions in citations are indicated and classed. The examples given may be useful to a wide range of readers (authors, reviewers, editors) as illustrations of the data distortion encountered in scientific publications due to incorrect citation

International vs. area? The disciplinary-politics of knowledge-exchange between IR and Area Studies

Within the political-economy of the social sciences, Area Studies (AS) is supposed to supply contextually-informed knowledge on (non-Western) areas to the other social sciences, in exchange for theory to guide further empirical investigations. Based on this assumption, there are regular calls for greater engagement with AS to counteract the shortcomings of International Relations’ (IR) knowledge-base on many areas, perspectives, and practices of the international. However, there has been little work empirically detailing knowledge-exchange practices between IR and AS, so it remains an open question if the relationship functions as an exchange of ‘international’ theory-for-‘area’ empirics. This paper provides a macro-sociological analysis of the practices of IR–AS knowledge-exchange. By focusing on citation practice, it moves beyond accounts that treat the two disciplines as ‘black boxes’, to trace which parts of the ‘dividing discipline’ of IR are active in exchanging knowledge with which ‘area’ scholarships. Hence, it asks: Are there ‘area’ blindspots in IR's knowledge-production? And, what type of IR theory is exported to AS? This analysis informs an assessment of whether AS represents a significant resource for IR in its efforts to, one, better inform its knowledge-production about ‘other’ areas of the international, and two, assert its disciplinary-relevance within the academy.

On Cucuys in Bird’s Feathers: A Counterstory as Parable

This counterstory reviews central topics of mentorship and writing/publishing collaborations as parable. While maintaining pressure on the audience to read/see themselves in the fictional characters within, this counterstory as parable expands the voice, style, citation practice, and genre possibilities for discussions that are difficult to engage due to power imbalances and precarity within the profession for graduate students and junior professors. This counterstory as parable is an invitation to discuss the important topics of mentorship and writing/publishing, particularly for audience members who maintain the power and privilege of working with emerging scholars (i.e. graduate program professors and senior scholars).

Trust law in Chinese courts: judicial decisions as data (2001–2017)

Trust law was transplanted into China nearly two decades ago, but how has it been applied by the Chinese courts? The answer may be found in relevant judgments. This study collected accessible Chinese court decisions related to trusts, and, relying on this, the citation practice of Trust Law in courts can be analyzed chronologically, and intensively applied articles can be singled out. Thus, this study intends to use these judicial documents, as data and as individual cases, to examine the role that the Chinese Trust Law has played in the judicial field since its enactment in 2001.

What If Law Journal Citations Included Digital Object Identifiers? A Snapshot of Major Law Journals

Prevailing citation practice in law journals is to use uniform resource locators (URLs) when citing electronic sources. Digital object identifiers (DOIs) provide a more reliable and robust mechanism for citing digital, scholarly articles. This study examines to what extent DOIs exist but are not used in law journal citations. Citations to scholarly articles from twenty-five randomly-selected articles appearing in the 2008-2009 volumes of four major law journals (Harvard Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and University of Pennsylvania Law Review) were checked for existing DOIs using CrossRef's Simple Text Query form. This resulted in 394 citations that could have had DOIs, but did not. This non-trivial number suggests that law journal editors and librarians should consider adding DOIs to citations. For journals that publish exclusively online or are interdisciplinary, assigning DOIs to their own articles may be a prudent measure to better ensure long-term digital access and citation by scholars in other fields.