Gambling with someone’s reputation (Part 3)

Over the past few weeks there have been a number of academics who have accused me of self-plagiarism. Here, I briefly outline what I have done and have not done in relation to the allegations I have seen. I think we would all agree with the definition dictionary definition of ‘plagiarism’, i.e., “the process or practice of using another person’s ideas or work and pretending that it is your own” (Cambridge Dictionary). Logically, based on this definition, ‘self-plagiarism’ would equate to the process or practice of using one’s own ideas and pretending that they are your own, but this is of course ludicrous.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘self-plagiarism as “the reuse of one’s own words, ideas, or artistic expression (as in an essay) from preexisting material especially without acknowledgment of their earlier use”. On the same page as this definition is a quote from the journalist Taylor Wofford who notes “Borrowing your own words is a tricky issue. Writers and publishers tend to rank self-plagiarism as a lesser offense than – what should we call it? – ‘real’ plagiarism? Still, they mostly agree it’s a no-no”.

On July 10 (2020), Dr Annie Brookman-Byrne (Deputy Editor of The Psychologist) emailed me:

“At The Psychologist, we are considering writing a piece on the concept and practice of self-plagiarism. We have seen Brendan O’Connor and others on Twitter highlighting concerns over some of your published output. Might you or your institution be interested in making a statement for us around whether you think there is actually a practice here that needs to change?”

I immediately responded to her email and said:

“I’ve not read all the comments on Twitter (and I am not going to respond to anything on Twitter as that is not the place to do it) but the alleged instances of self-plagiarism primarily revolve around my use of journal text in populist non-refereed non-journal outputs. For instance, when I write for magazines like ‘Education and Health’ (a magazine for teachers) or in newspaper or magazine articles I will use text from my journal papers…I write for many different audiences. Obviously I write and co-write refereed journal papers but I am also a freelance journalist, a prolific blogger, and write articles for the trade press (e.g., gambling and gaming magazines) as well as articles in professional publications that are not peer-reviewed. Personally I see nothing wrong in using material from my refereed papers in these other types of article as I am a prolific disseminator and want to get my ideas and thoughts to as many people and to as big an audience as possible. The alleged examples of self-plagiarism that I have seen directed towards me comprise less than 1% of my refereed journal papers. I am very proud of my publication record in many different spheres. For the record, most of those accusing me of alleged self-plagiarism are citing papers that I wrote 15 or more years ago and are making no distinction between what I have published in peer-reviewed journal papers and articles that have not been peer-reviewed and which I would describe as populist outlets”.

I make no secret of using text from my refereed papers in my blogs, newspaper and magazine articles, press releases, trade press publications, consultancy reports, and reports for third parties (e.g., calls for evidence from parliamentary committees). Those who have been using plagiarism software on my refereed papers have included results from text that is not from refereed papers.

For instance, a number of examples I saw of my alleged self-plagiarism concerned the magazine Education and Health. Education and Health is a magazine for teachers and parents and is produced by the School Health Education Unit in Exeter focusing on adolescent health and education issues. Education and Health has no copyright (i.e., no author has to sign a copyright form), is not peer-reviewed, and articles do not have a doi, contain keywords, or have an abstract). I have published in it regularly for three decades. In some of the articles I have written for Education and Health, I have taken an academic review paper (6000-11000 words) and then turned it into a dumbed down ‘pop’ article (1000-1500 words). I’ve done this a number of times over the past 30 years. An example that I saw online last week was in relation to a 2011 open access paper by Daria Kuss and myself (i.e., Kuss, D. J. & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Online social networking and addiction: A literature review of empirical research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8, 3528-3552).

This was an 11,000-word systematic literature review on social networking addiction. It has become one of our most cited papers (1,528 citations on Google Scholar as of this morning). After publishing this refereed paper, I then turned this into a 1500-word ‘pop’ version for Education and Health (Kuss, D.J. & Griffiths, M.D. (2011). Excessive online social networking: Can adolescents become addicted to Facebook? Education and Health, 29. 63-66.). In the first paragraph, the Education and Health article clearly states:

“As a consequence of the increased media attention to headlines about ‘Facebook addiction’, we recently reviewed all the scientific evidence on the topic (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011a). This article briefly summarises what we found”.

This sentence cites the paper from which all the material in the article comes from. I have not tried to hide anything or pretend that the article contains original material. The article was for teachers and parents. It contains a summary of the key things found in our refereed paper and uses text from that paper. If others want to view it as ‘self-plagiarism’ I have no problem with that. I view it as dissemination of our work to an audience outside of academia.

Any of us in British academia knows how important the Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact agenda is. My own research was rated as having 4* world-leading impact at the last REF and I’m hoping to repeat it this time. One of the ways I have gone about this is to disseminate my work to as many non-academic audiences as possible. My articles in the gambling trade press have been instrumental in the research and consultancy monies that I have generated for my university in the area of responsible gambling, player protection, and harm-minimization.

Almost all of the examples I have seen of my alleged self-plagiarism comes from this type of practice where I have turned pure academic papers into something more populist. Occasionally it has worked the other way (i.e., I’ve written a populist piece and then worked it up into an academic paper although the instances of this are much fewer). As I said above, personally I see nothing wrong in using material from my refereed papers in these other types of article as I am a prolific disseminator and want to get my ideas and thoughts to as many people and to as big an audience as possible.

Most of those accusing me of alleged self-plagiarism are citing papers that I wrote 10-15 years ago (although I did see one from 2015, again with Education and Health being the source of alleged self-plagiarism) and no-one appears to be making any distinction between what I have published in peer-reviewed journal papers and articles that have not been peer-reviewed and which I would describe as populist outlets. Plagiarism software does not indicate whether the text it finds comes from a refereed paper or non-refereed article. No-one who has accused me of self-plagiarism has contacted me personally and asked my about the source material and whether a particular piece of writing was refereed or not. There appears to be an assumption that all alleged self-plagiarised sources were from refereed papers (but they weren’t).

I should also add that there are other examples of my work that have been reproduced with permission from the publishers and/or copyright holders. For instance, the publisher IGI Global regularly republishes my work in other guises. Here’s an example I received this week from them (the words in bold were by the publisher and not me):

“I hope this message finds you well, especially during this turbulent time. It is with great pleasure that I am informing you that your contribution titled “UK-Based Police Officers’ Perceptions of, and Role in Investigating, Cyber-Harassment as a Crime,” previously published in an IGI Global publication, was carefully assessed and selected by IGI Global’s executive editorial board for inclusion as a reprinted chapter (100% completely unchanged from the original) in the recently published IGI Global research anthology titled Police Science.

IGI Global’s research anthologies, also called “Critical Explorations”, were created after an extensive survey was conducted with academic librarians, who requested to have a cost-effective and timely way to enhance their collections with the highest quality, timely research. This line of publications allows our publishing house to hand-select the highest quality research content (book chapters and journal articles of which IGI Global owns the copyright), to be reprinted in a research anthology format. This format also allows the author’s research to become more accessible and visible to a larger community of researchers around the world so that they can benefit from additional exposure (i.e. citations) for their work.

Please note that there is no intent to deceive anyone. We execute the highest level of transparency, as every single chapter that appears in these publications are labeled with a special notation indicating that it is reprinted content and listing the original source of the material.  Additionally, because we are maintaining the integrity of the original published work, no changes have been made nor can be made to the chapter”.

I fully understand that my explanation for how and why I publish with different audiences will not be accepted by detractors, but that’s not why I wrote this. All I can do is give my side of how I disseminate my work and ideas to as many people as possible.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Gambling with someone’s reputation (Part 2)

Yesterday I published a short blog in response to Dorothy Bishop’s blog who questioned some of the editorial practices of journals that I regularly published in. As a consequence of Dorothy Bishop’s blog, I was contacted by Jack Grove, a journalist at the Times Higher Education on late Friday afternoon (July 17). Mr. Grove wrote:

“I am a journalist in London who writes on research integrity issues. I’m following up a recent blog by an Oxford University professor who has called attention to what sees as questionable publication practices in some of the journals that you regularly write in, namely to do with your research output… The blog raises some interesting questions about your relationship with these journals as so much of your work appears in them. While I can see that they are relevant to your research area, I’m sure you can appreciate why this pattern of publication is concerning.

Professor Bishop also mentions your publication rate which does seem rather astonishing. Looking at your personal web page it seems you have published some 113 articles so far this year – which is more than one every two days, and more than 1,700 pieces in your career so far, which raises some questions about how much input you are actually having on these co-authored publications. This has been raised a few times before, with some critics saying that, with self-citation, it’s a handy way to inflate your h-index. If you could respond to these concerns, I would be much obliged as I intend to write something about this next week”

Within five minutes of receiving the email I wrote back to Mr. Grove:

“I would be delighted to talk to you and I can send you every draft of every single article I have co-written this year (and most years over the last decade) because I keep every version of every paper with every track change I have ever made. I’ve done this for years for eventualities like this because some individuals simply don’t believe that I have co-authored all the papers I have published. Attached is the response that has been sent to Dr. Bishop by the Journal of Behavioral Addiction. I’m not sure how other journals are going to respond but I would imagine it would be along the same lines as this. Happy to talk now, over the weekend, or at you convenience. My home number is [supplied my number]. I would be delighted to talk to you about how I do what I do. I have contributed to every single paper I have ever published and can prove it”.

Mr. Grove emailed back to say he would like to chat to me Monday afternoon (July 20). On the morning of July 20, I emailed Mr. Grove to ask him what time he would like to speak to me that afternoon. He didn’t reply and he didn’t ring me that afternoon. In the meantime, on Friday evening (July 17, 2020), I emailed all the people that I have published with this year and wrote:

“Today I have been approached by a journalist (Jack Grove) at the Times Higher Education here in the UK about all the articles I have co-authored and published this year so far (over 100) – see his email below. His email claims that the number of papers I have co-published this year “raises some questions about how much input you are actually having on these co-authored publications”. I would be very grateful if you could confirm to Jack that my co-authorships on our papers were as a direct result of intellectually and physically writing and contributing to each of the papers I have co-published with you. His email appears to be implying that my name is just being put on papers without any contribution from me which I find very hurtful and is questioning my integrity. As you probably all know, I keep every version of every paper that I contribute to and am happy to share these with the journalist. I’m sorry to have to do this but I would be very grateful if you could simply confirm that I materially contributed to the publication(s) we co-authored. Please don’t reply to everyone, just to the journalist and myself will suffice”.

Since writing my email, almost all the people I contacted have emailed Mr. Grove. Here are some excerpts of the emails that Mr. Grove has received. They demonstrate that I materially and intellectually contributed to every paper I have co-authored and published this year.

Xavi Carbonell (Spain)

“I have been working with Mark in the last few years. I am in debt with him as are some of my doctoral students (Marta Beranuy, Alexandra Rodríguez and Héctor Fuster). Mark has been helping a lot, been always available and making substantial contributions to our research and to the papers. Mark also was the tutor of three-month international research stays of Marta Beranuy and Alexandra Rodríguez and one short research stay of myself. I could provide you with some of the manuscripts that we have been working on where you can see (visible changes in the word document) the suggestions and changes provided by Mark in the preliminary versions of the manuscript. Mark is a tireless and efficient worker and I am very proud to know him and very grateful to him”.

Vasileios Stavropoulos (Australia)

“In all the papers that we have worked together [Mark Griffiths] had significant intellectual contribution in at least three different ways: (i) contribution to the research idea conception, before data collection/research implementation, (ii) interpretation of the findings, and (iii) review and final edit of the final document submitted. The reason that I have initially aimed to collaborate with [him 4 years ago] had to do with his international reputation and my desire to gain visibility for my work.  The reasons that I now continue working with him are: (a) his thoroughness; (b) his speed in delivering outcome; (c) his collegiality; and (d) his honesty. I can also confirm that in every single paper we have worked together, the title page of the initial submission to the journal has always included the specific authors’ contributions.  I can also provide all his thoroughly edited (with track changes) documents, and emails for every research submission we have had together”.

Mustafa Savci (Turkey)

“Dr. Griffiths made unique contributions to my studies. In the papers we published, [his] contribution was not less than mine. I have always appreciated [his] contributions in papers we co-author. I want you to know that I have witnessed that the allegations were unfounded”.

William Van Gordon (UK)

“Sorry to hear about these allegations. [Dr. Griffiths] certainly made meaningful and material contributions to papers that we wrote together”.

Pawel Atroszko (Poland)

“I write in relation to your e-mail to Prof. Mark D. Griffiths concerning his prolific academic output in terms of published scientific papers, and doubts raised by Professor Bishop’s piece. Since 2015, I have written several papers with Prof. Mark D. Griffiths…I would like to confirm that his co-authorships on our papers were as a direct result of intellectually and physically writing and contributing to each of the papers we have co-published. I believe the rate of publishing of Prof. Griffiths is a reflection of his extraordinary work ethic and expertise in the field of behavioral addictions. He can be considered among the most important researchers worldwide in establishing the field in recent decades and dynamically moving it forward, and has been publishing on the issues related to compulsive behaviors (to my knowledge) since the late 1980s when the field of behavioral addictions was still virtually non-existent. From this point of view, he embodies the history of this field and has an unparalleled overview of its development, and deep understanding of its issues. Taking into account my knowledge of the behavioral addictions field and my experiences of collaborating with Prof. Griffiths, I would conclude that his expertise matched with inexhaustible engagement in moving the field forward in development, as well as openness and willingness to collaborate best explain his prolific publishing. In relation to Professor Bishop’s piece, she wrote on his blog: ‘Neither IJMHA nor JBA publishes the dates of submission and acceptance of articles, and so it is not possible to evaluate this concern’. I would like to point that this statement is not true and all of my papers with Prof. Mark D. Griffiths published in JBA from the first one in 2015 to the most recent one were peer reviewed, have submission dates and acceptance dates printed on the first page of the paper, and Prof. Griffiths has actively participated in the process of correcting papers after suggestions of the reviewers. In the case of all of my papers with Prof. Griffiths, he was engaged in the process of writing them from clarification of the initial idea till final corrections after reviews”.

Daria Kuss (UK)

“Professor Mark Griffiths is a leader in the field of behavioural addictions due to his unmatched set of skills, his ability to communicate ideas clearly and flexibly to different audiences, his unparalleled work ethic and dedication. With his body of work and grasp of novel ideas, he has inspired numerous researchers across the world, including myself.  Mark and I have co-authored dozens of papers over the last decade, including peer-reviewed publications, various reports, papers in the trade press and the news media, book chapters and a book. He has had a significant intellectual contribution to all of our co-authored publications, including developing the original ideas, writing the papers, editing them across multiple iterations, and revising them following reviewers’ and editors’ comments. He has furthermore contributed his invaluable expertise to the publication process of our co-authored work, including evaluations of particular journals, and supporting the work’s impact and visibility across various channels.  Mark has always been a thoughtful, honest and responsive mentor whose expertise, loyalty and integrity are second to none. I am very grateful for his indispensable contributions and his steadfast mentorship across the many years we have had the pleasure to work together”

Marta Beranuy Fargues (Spain)

“I am writing to confirm that [Dr. Griffiths] made a considerable contribution to the article that we have published together this year”.

Doris Malischnig (Austria)

“I can only say that there is no one who contributed so much to the published articles and from whom I have learned more than from him. He actively contributed to every paper, rewrote, supplemented, improved, and after the submission helped me to answer the questions of the reviewers correctly. For example for our paper, which was published in January (2020), I have more than 100 emails that we exchanged. This paper has been radically revised twice, it took us 3 years to get the paper published!! He accompanied the process so intensively, answered questions and suggested and supplemented evaluations, and motivated me to keep to it. I even asked him to be the first author on the paper. His input was significantly larger than mine. He refused! Without Mark Griffiths, neither the scientific knowledge nor the practical impact would be where they are today. For that he would actually have to be knighted. He works day and night, namely to help us and science that the world looks better for problem gamblers or other addicts and their families. If you need evidence, I have saved all emails and his related work on the articles we published together, because it helps me to learn from them afterwards”.

Supakyada Sapthiang (UK)

“I’m surprised to see this blog is by an Oxford professor as its highly speculative. You made substantial intellectual contributions to my papers for which I am very grateful”

Alexandra Torres-Roriguez (Spain)

“I would confirm that all of authorships of Dr. Mark Griffiths in our papers were correct. Dr. Mark was my thesis co-director, and I attended NTU when I was doing my International PhD. We did more than ten versions regarding the papers. Not only that, he taught me important aspects of the publications, he provided complete sections, he made substantial and key contributions, and he stayed with me throughout the process involved. [Dr. Griffiths] has been one of my best and most dedicated teachers, from whom I have learned a lot. Always willing to help me kindly with my thesis and with anything related to my research career”

Christian Montag (Germany)

“I can tell you my experience from one paper, I published this week with Dr. Mark Griffiths [in ‘Frontiers in Psychology’] Dr. Cornelia Sindermann and I led with this paper, but I can assure you that all co-authors substantially worked over the paper and gave important intellectual input. I liked this cooperation, because the input was very valuable and the work-pace rapid”.

Hibai Lopez-Gonzalez (Spain)

“[Dr. Griffiths] was my mentor during my two-year (2016-2018) postdoctoral research fellowship at Nottingham Trent University. We had one-hour meetings almost every week, in which we discussed my research ideas and prospective papers. He provided general guidance most of the time but not once he refused to get his hands dirty and engage with monotonous data analysis…We have co-authored 22 refereed papers together, if my calculations are not mistaken. He would always offer a critical assessment of the manuscripts I sign as leading author, including dozens of editing tips and modifications as track changes to the word documents I share with him. The turnaround time is usually 12-48 hours, including holiday periods and weekends. In many of those times [Dr. Griffiths] is abroad for work but his response time is usually unaffected by it. This has also been the case in one occasion in which he was hospitalised. I would like to add that I have never published a paper with his name on it without him contributing to it. I think I’m not alone in wondering how Mark does the trick. I don’t have the answer to this question, but I guess a combination of neurodivergence (for example, for most of his life he slept 3 hours a night) and perfectionism/obsessiveness (he would edit every single comma, capital letter, italic and space from the reference list) could work as a preliminary hypothesis”.

Colin O’Gara (Ireland)

“There is no question that [Dr. Griffiths] has contributed materially to our recent publications in the area of behavioural addictions in Irish populations. I first met Mark at a conference in 2012 in Dublin and always wanted to collaborate with him.  He is an excellent colleague and we are immensely grateful for his time and generous contributions. We would be very much hoping for Mark’s continued input in future”.

Amir Pakpour (Iran)

“I confirm that my collaborations with [Dr. Griffiths] is meaningful. [Dr. Griffiths] collaborates with me in my works in computational framework, drafting manuscripts, results interpretations, and revising [papers] critically for important intellectual content”.

Md. Abdullah Mamun (Bangladesh)

“I am just writing to confirm that Professor Griffiths made major written and intellectual contributions to all the papers that I have co-authored with him this year (and last year). Whenever I send him a draft of a paper he typically works on three or four drafts before submission. I have learned so much from him over the past three years and he has helped rise my research profile in Bangladesh enormously”.

Tzipi Buchman-Wildbaum (Israel)

“I confirm that Mark Griffiths had a significant contribution to the publications we co-authored. Mark had meaningful contribution to the writing and editing of the papers. He also provided supervision, guidance, and professional feedback from his extensive theoretical knowledge in the field of mental health and psychopathologies. He was involved and devoted during the whole publication process and I’m grateful for his help and involvement in my work.”

Kamrul Hsan (Bangladesh)

“I am writing to you about Mark Griffiths’ co-authorship on our papers. I would like to inform you that Mark Griffiths was a co-author on some of our papers…He contributed to [the papers] both intellectually and physically writing, and manuscript preparation. He is a very hard working researcher and supportive to young researchers”.

Niklas Hopfgartner (Austria)

“I can confirm that Mark always provides valuable input in our research / papers, both through physical writing and discussing ideas / methods / results”.

Tyrone Burleigh (UK)

“I would like to share my experience with [Dr. Griffiths] as my co-author. The number of articles I have published is relatively small. However, as an early career researcher Mark’s input on my papers has been an invaluable contribution. In my experience, he has always added a layer of expertise and critical insight into my papers (both physically and intellectually), and his contribution has been anything but minimal. Mark is an extremely dedicated researcher and he has always gone that extra mile to help me in my work. I have seen no faults in his work ethic or integrity when I have had the pleasure of collaborating with him”.

Elizabeth Killick (UK)

“I have co-authored two papers with Mark Griffiths during my PhD at Nottingham Trent University (so far). Mark contributed significantly to both papers”.

Li Li (China)

“I confirm to you that Dr. Griffiths’ co-authorships on our papers were as a direct result of intellectually and physically writing and contributing to each of the papers he has co-published with me. In our papers, Dr. Griffiths and me analysed and interpreted the data. In addition, he also edited and contributed to the revised papers. I believe that he is an energetic and productive scholar”.

Arnaldo Rodríguez León (Cuba)

“I’m a Senior Cuban Cardiologist with 25 years’ experience in clinical cardiology…I decided to write to Professor Griffiths because he is and outstanding authority in this field [of social media addiction] and I had an original idea about it. We began to write the paper and sent each other more than 20 emails…I assure youProfessor Mark Griffiths wrote more than 50% of the paper. At the same time he continuously checked references, asked me questions about my draft, and when the article was almost ready he still was able to check some ideas. I’m deeply impressed because he works as a machine!!!”

Bruno Schivinski (Australia)

“I am writing you regarding the query initiated by Professor Bishop…I have co-authored and published with Professor Mark Griffiths three papers since 2018. I confirm his co-authorships on our papers. Professor Griffiths contributed to each of the papers both intellectually and by writing them. Furthermore, I would like to mention that Professor Griffiths is a role model in our profession”.

Aslam Mia (Malaysia)

“I have published one [article] recently with [Prof. Griffiths]. I would like to confirm that I am the one who approached [him] to be a co-author…due to his vast knowledge and expertise in the related field. Prof. Griffiths significantly contributed (e.g., strengthened the arguments, rewrote and revised the draft and raised several questions to be addressed…He did at least two rounds of revision before sending the paper to the journal. I have worked with around 25 researchers from at least 10 countries. And honestly speaking, I have not found anyone like Prof. Griffiths who is so active when it comes to joint research. I was mesmerized by his time management in delivering the joint work. It is sad to learn that someone is accusing him because he has published a lot”.

Shahla Ostovar (Iran)

“I have known Prof. Griffiths since 2014 and we have some publications together and two of them were published in 2020. Our publications in 2020 is a chain of hard working starting from 2016 with the basic idea from all authors including Prof. Griffiths. For writing each manuscript we had lots of communications with him. He really is more than a supervisor and co-author. He point-by-point guided us in both data analysis and writing to reach an acceptable manuscript. Then we tried some different journals to find a suitable house for our manuscripts. Both of our 2020 publications were reviewed over a long period of time and took more than 6 months to get acceptance. He is one of the key theoreticians in internet addiction and other addictions. It is obvious lots of researchers want to work with…[He is] generous in support [of] polishing ideas, analysis of data, and in writing the papers. Unfortunately, there are some jealous people who do not like Prof. Griffiths’ achievements…I can assure you that he contributed greatly to all my papers with him including the 2 published this year”.

Remya Lathabhavan (India)

“Dr Mark Griffiths contributed in discussion of the initial idea, writing, review and clarification on each other’s contribution, selection of journal, submission formalities and responses to reviewers for our work. He is a hardworking and sincere researcher who is reachable over mail any point of time for providing research advice and research communication for an early researcher like me”.

Zsolt Horvath (Hungary)

“I have two publications where [Dr. Griffiths] is listed as a co-author…I can confirm that in both cases Mark significantly contributed to writing and revising the manuscript”.

Alvaro Sicilia (Spain)

“After becoming aware of the controversy surrounding Professor Bishop’s blog about Professor Mark Griffiths, I am writing this email…I met Professor Griffiths in October 2018 while on sabbatical at Nottingham Trent University, which ended in October 2019. I recognise that Professor Griffiths’ production is prolific and I understand that this may attract the attention of other academics. However, once I shared a year of work with Professor Griffiths, I was able to see the high level of dedication to his work and the wide network of collaborations he has with researchers from all over the world…What I would like to put on record is that I can confirm that [he] has contributed to each of the articles that we have published together since 2019. His contribution has been varied and always enriching. In some cases, he has served as a critical expert incorporating substantial ideas into the study and reviewing the first drafts. On other occasions, he has contributed to the idea and design of the study itself, in addition to the process of writing the text. In any case, in many of the works published with Professor Griffiths, the tasks carried out by each of the co-authors have been made explicit….I do not want to end without expressing my appreciation for the contributions that Professor Griffiths has made in each of the works published or in preparation. Both for me and for my research team at the University of Almeria, it has been a pleasure to work together with Mark Griffiths and we hope that our collaboration can be maintained over time”.

David Fernandez (UK)

“I have, in total, two co-authored publications with [Dr. Griffiths]…I can attest that Mark contributed significantly to both of these publications, such that he unequivocally deserves co-authorship on them”.

Chung-Ying Lin (Hong Kong)

“I am writing this letter to confirm that [Dr. Griffiths] has contributed significantly to all my publications co-authored with him. I have also kept the records that can indicate Mark’s contribution”.

Zeyang Yang (Hong Kong)

“I confirm that Prof Mark Griffiths contributed to all our co-authored papers carefully with detailed corrections, feedback, and concerns. Mark contributed to all parts of our papers from Abstract to Conclusion with detailed comments on the sources of background information, theoretical and empirical literature discussing, data analysis selection, methods and results presentation, results discussion, research implications and even spelling errors”.

Zsolt Demetrovics (Hungary)

“I can confirm of course that [Dr. Griffiths’] co-authorship in our co-authored papers was in each case a result of [his] intellectual contribution and physical writing. Jack Grove has already approached me as well and wants to know more about the JBA review process”.

Halley Pontes (Australia)

“I am writing to you to give you some perspective about Professor Mark Griffiths in relation to the email you sent him regarding the blog entry by Professor Dorothy Bishop. Professor Mark Griffiths is one of the main founders (considered to be the founder in Europe) of a very controversial and highly relevant (in terms of public health) field of research. Professor Griffiths has been publishing his work on behavioural and technological addictions since the early 1990s, and as such, is recognised widely by his peers as one of the founders of the technological addictions field. Professor Griffiths has an extremely impressive network of collaborators from numerous countries and this is the main reason he is a prolific researcher (in addition to his hard work). I have worked with Professor Griffiths for nearly 10 years now, and we have co-authored a total of 74 research outputs together…Not only have I worked collaboratively with Professor Griffiths remotely (online), but also in a close context during the time I have lived in the UK where I would meet Professor Griffiths weekly at Nottingham Trent University. Of all the 74 published outputs I have with Professor Griffiths, all of them received substantial intellectual contribution and input from him. Professor Griffiths is not someone who gets his name on papers without having made a robust intellectual contribution. I can also attest to Professor Griffith’s high ethical standards and academic integrity as a result of working with him for so many years”.

Frank Buono (USA)

“I have been working with Dr. Griffiths for 5 years now, and during this time every manuscript that we have published together, he has provided direct insight in accordance to the publishing rights associated with American Psychological Association, and the respective journal’s by-laws…In [our] latest manuscript, ‘Gaming and Gaming Disorder: Mediation Model Gender, Salience, Age of Gaming Onset and Time Spent Gaming’, Dr. Griffiths as senior author provided 5 edits of the manuscript, after the manuscript was rejected from the first journal. He also, provided feedback in constructing letter of response to the editors”.

Alex Sumich (UK)

“I have known [Prof. Griffiths] for 10 years now, and have published several manuscripts with him…In all of these, he has contributed substantially in terms of study plan and writing…In [the cases I have co-published with him, Prof. Griffiths] attended (if not led) several meetings leading up to the first draft of the manuscripts, and based on his expertise and experience actively contributed to the planning of the studies through several discussions. In all cases, the initial drafts of the manuscripts were then written by the doctoral students. These were then circulated around co-authors for further input. In all cases, he made substantial and valuable suggestions for improving the manuscripts, typically contributing to 2-3 drafts prior to final submission. Following submission, each of these manuscripts received peer feedback and the research team discussed our response to issues raised. Thus, in my experience Prof Griffiths has very much earnt his position as co-author on all of these publications. [Prof Griffiths] has previously described himself as a ‘writing addict’. Writing is certainly his passion and he is incredible efficient at it. He has developed an excellent international collaborative network…Based on my own experience of working with Mark, I would feel confident that he would have contributed significantly to every publication that carries his name. He is a highly conscientious academic…Much of his work is in addiction research, and as such would naturally be published in specialist journals for addiction. Mark is also a very talented teacher, and mentor”.

David Columb (Ireland)

“I have worked with [Dr. Griffiths] on five published and one soon to be published article since I commenced research in the field of behavioural addiction about three years ago. Dr. Griffiths informed me about your upcoming article in relation to prolific publishing and a query on the credibility of Mark’s co-authored pieces. In every piece of research, I have worked with [Dr. Griffiths] on, he has contributed substantially to each one. I am only new to the research field and without his input on each paper we’ve done together, I imagine some of them would not be at publishing standard. It can actually be quite a chastening experience talking to Dr. Griffiths about our research topics and ideas as he can end up fixing the majority of it! I personally have never questioned Dr. Griffiths’ output as I have received emails on weekends and odd hours from him with multiple corrections and suggestions to papers, which shows someone dedicated to research and helping others with their research and would go some way to explaining his prolific publishing. He is also very willing to provide guidance on research whenever I would need some”.

Maria Ciccarelli (Italy)

“I am writing you to confirm that Dr. Griffiths’ co-authorship on my papers is the result of his contribution to papers I have co-published with him”.

Sabbir Ahmed (Bangladesh)

“Professor Griffiths is one of the best researchers and supervisors I have ever seen in my life. I have three co-authored papers with him. In every paper, he has significantly contributed from research design to manuscript writing. He is very hardworking and I am really happy to work with him. His scholastic guidance helps me to conduct some interesting research and in the future, I want to work more with him”.

Kagan Kircaburan (UK)

“Professor Griffiths’ co-authorships on all my papers were as a direct result of his intellectual and physical contributions. His contributions (in literature reviews, methods, analyses, and discussion sections) made each and every paper that I’ve published with him much better and publishable in good journals”.

Melina Throuvala (UK)

“I have been working with Professor Griffiths as a PhD student since September 2016 and am now a Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University in the Psychology Department. I would like to confirm that Professor Griffiths has contributed significantly to all of our co-authored papers. Working closely with him, I have witnessed first-hand his contribution to papers he co-authors. I do understand that the sheer number of publications can raise questions. However, never in my life have I met such a prolific author as Mark. His collaborations are a testament to his work ethic and expertise in this field, which he is diligently serving the last 30 years”.

Zhaojun Teng (China)

“As a lead author, this year I co-authored and published two articles [with Prof. Griffiths]. I confirm that he contributed to these works, and should be list as a co-author, according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). Each work, Prof. Griffiths paid much time and attention to work on the manuscript. From the draft writing, rejected by the journal, revising, and proof to publication, we needed at least 10 rounds of revision. I keep the email records. If needed, I can provide every version of these two articles”.

Gabriel Bonilla Zorita (UK)

“Personally, I can confirm that Mark as my supervisor has contributed a great deal with our publication. He is an incredibly dedicated academic and those who are near to him know that he put in hours of work like no other academic. I have no doubt of his integrity and legitimate contribution to all his co-authored publications and work”.

Paolo Soraci (Italy)

“I confirm that Professor Griffiths has contributed to my research (for example, reviewing the research, proposing ideas and changes, checking the bibliography, arranging the research layout and many other things). He has my most sincere regards”.

Saiful Islam (Bangladesh)

“I have co-authored with Dr. Griffiths. He is very supportive and contributes a direct result of intellectually and physically writing and editing to each of the papers. I really appreciated his extensive edits and guidance. Without physically writing and editing, he wouldn’t have been be a co-author with me”.

Ivan Ukhov and Johan Bjurgert (Sweden)

“We have had the pleasure to work with Professor Griffiths since around March 2019. In October 2019, we submitted a manuscript to the ‘Journal of Gambling Studies’, and in June 2020, it was accepted for publication. The contribution of Professor Griffiths to the work in question was substantial. We had numerous e-mail conversations, discussing the essence of the study and the delivery of the results by together iterating over the manuscript until convergence”.

Deena Dsouza (India)

“I really appreciate [Dr. Griffiths’] contribution as a co-author in the recent publication on the topic pertaining to online gaming…I am stating without any hesitation that Dr. Griffiths contributed intellectually and physically in writing the manuscript, until the last stage of proofreading. The manuscript has been the combined effort of all the authors. As an expert in this field, his contribution significantly impacted the manuscript. It was my pleasure working with him. His intellectual contribution, hard work, and passion towards research is appreciated undoubtedly”.

Alan Emond (UK)

“I am one of Prof. Griffiths’ collaborators. He has been advising me on the ALSPAC Gambling Study (based on Children of the Nineties cohort) for over 10 years,  was a co-applicant on the grant which funded the analysis and contributed to the study design and analytic strategy. He edited and approved the report and papers arising from the study. One of the papers has been accepted by IJMHA, but was subject to a full peer review, and I received two critical reviews from gambling experts which I responded to in the revised manuscript. As far as I am concerned, Mark has been an excellent collaborator and has contributed intellectually to the research and fulfilled his responsibilities as a co-author”.

Nazire Hamutoğlu (Turkey)

“I would like to thank Dr. Griffiths for his contribution towards our article. I would kindly like to inform you that Dr. Griffiths materially contributed to the publication we co-authored. He is one of the best co-authors [and] made a marvellous contribution”.

Francesca Gioia (Italy)

“During my PhD course, supervised by Prof Valentina Boursier, I spent three months at the Nottingham Trent University. Prof. Mark Griffiths was my tutor during my PhD visit, kindly and willingly welcoming me at his lab, from September to November 2019. I can definitely assure you that Prof. Griffiths concretely contributed to critically revising the co-authored papers concerning my PhD research project”.

Valentina Boursier (Italy)

“Concerning my papers that Prof. Griffiths co-authored, I can absolutely confirm that he concretely contributed revising them critically. These works are part of our collaboration on my PhD student’s (Francesca Gioia) research project, that Dr. Gioia conducted with me in Italy and Prof. Griffiths supervised during her visiting at the Nottingham Trent University”.

Filipa Calado (UK)

“I have been working with Professor Griffiths since 2015, firstly as a PhD student, and now as a lecturer in Nottingham Trent University. I would like to confirm that Mark has strongly contributed to the papers that I am the first author. He actively contributed to the design of the studies, choice of the variables, theoretical background, and writing of the papers, among other things. Working with him has enabled me to deepen my knowledge on the field of behavioural addictions, and to start a career on this topic”.

Michael Auer (Austria)

“I have been working with Dr. Griffiths since 2010 and we published our first paper together in 2011. Since then we have published at least 30 papers together…I believe that our papers are quite complex as they are all empirical based on real-world data from various online gambling companies. My speciality is gambling research as I am also commercially involved in the industry. I can assure you that Mark is highly involved in all the publications and we at least run through five iterations until we are ready to submit a paper. So far we have managed to publish every paper that we worked on. I can imagine that it is quite unbelievable how much he publishes, but I’d say it is somehow his superpower. Everybody has one or more strengths and writing papers is for sure his!”

Francesco López-Fernández (Spain)

“I confirm the co-authorship of Mark in our paper due to his relevant contribution. He deeply reviewed the study several times providing important changes and commentaries during my research stay at Nottingham Trent University”.

Bernadette Kun (Hungary)

“I confirm that Professor Mark Griffiths intellectually and physically wrote and contributed to the papers he has co-published with me. I confirm that his work was very important and useful in our common papers”.

Sanju George (India)

“I have written/published with Professor Griffiths, both during my time in the UK and since my return to India. I can confidently state that in all the papers we have written/published together, Prof Griffiths has actively and fully contributed materially and intellectually”.

Andrzej Cudo (Poland)

“I would like to confirm that Professor Griffiths was co-author of my published paper, and his direct intellectual contribution and physical writing had primarily concerned the theoretical background and discussion related to the obtained results presented in my paper”.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Gambling with someone’s reputation (Part 1)

I have always adhered to Oscar Wilde’s dictum that “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about”. However, after all the things that have been alleged about me and my work over the last few weeks on social media, I have little option but to make some formal responses, especially now that I have been asked to comment by national media. I’ve always been advised by my mentors and by those people I trust not to fight battles on social media. This is going to be the first of a number of brief statements I will make concerning various allegations that have been made about me.

My first statement relates to a blog by Dorothy Bishop had written about editorial practices relating to a couple of the journals I regularly publish in (namely the Journal of Behavioral Addictions [JBA] and the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction [IJMHA]) entitled ‘Percent by most prolific’ author score: a red flag for possible editorial bias’. The journals named have done nothing wrong and neither have I. Bishop appeared to be questioning some of their editorial practices. A statement by the JBA has now appeared on Bishop’s blog.

In addition to the statement by the publisher of the JBA, I was also given information about my own papers submitted to the journal. This information was supplied to me but does not appear in the formal response. The publisher’s analysis led to a number of observations.

The first thing to say “in contrast to the statement in the blogpost, the dates when a manuscript was received by the journal, as well as the dates of receiving all the revisions, and finally the date of acceptance are publishedon the front page of all JBA papers from the very first issue.”

Using these dates anyone can check how fast the final accepted papers are going through the review process. In the case of the papers I have authored or co-authored, on average, 110 days passed between the original submission and the final decision. For the accepted papers, the shortest period was 32 days and the longest one 349 days (decisions about rejection were usually made sooner). In contrast to the statement in Bishop’s post, this is even longer than the overall mean of 91.51 days for all papers submitted to JBA.

The JBA’s ‘Editorial Manager’ system shows that there were 92 papers I had authored/co-authored that have been submitted to JBA since the journal’s inception in 2012 (and in most cases I was a co-author rather than being the first author or corresponding author). Of these 92 papers, 61 of these papers were eventually accepted, 25 rejected, and further two were withdrawn (and four are still under review). This means the acceptance rate of papers I authored or co-authored was 66.3% acceptance rate, compared to 40.7% for all JBA submissions in the system. The acceptance rate is higher than for all papers. However, I am personally not surprised given my and my co-authors’ standing in the behavioral addiction field. According to the Web of Science, the average number of citations papers that I have published in the JBA is 22.77, compared to 13.88 for all JBA papers.    

The publisher of the JBA also noted that: “Regarding the review process, we have to emphasize that in accordance with the commitment on the journal’s website, all the submissions (including both those co-authored by Prof. Griffiths and those not) were peer reviewed by at least two peer reviewers (and sometimes by more).”

Bishop also seemed to suggest that because I was on the editorial boards of these journals that I shouldn’t be publishing in them. The JBA publisher noted:

“We do not think that a researcher should not publish in a journal just because he/she has an editorial role in that certain journal because he/she collaborates with any of the editors. That happens in the case of most journals. Similarly, in the case of the JBA, many of the editorial board members and the associate editors (including the editor-in-chief) publishes papers in the journal, which we believe is acceptable and welcome. These researchers are the top scientists of this field and that’s why they were chosen to be part of the editorial system. However, this should not exclude them from contributing to the field via JBA. The important issue here, is that the review process must be independent which, based on our investigation is fully secured in the case of JBA.”.

I don’t have the statistics for the IJMHA but my guess is that they would be in the same ballpark for submission of papers that I have authored/co-authored.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

On the fly: Travel tips for excessive travellers

In a previous blog on ‘binge flying’, I noted that as part of my job I do a lot of travel. In the past 12 months as part of my job I’ve been lucky enough to go to China, Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Argentina, New Zealand (twice), United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Finland, Norway (twice), Spain (twice), Portugal, Belgium, Malta (twice), Bulgaria, and Ireland. For me, travelling has become an occupational necessity.

However, I have tried to turn my experiences into something more positive and have written a number of short articles providing tips about travelling abroad for outlets such as the British Medical Journal and the PsyPAG Quarterly as well as publishing a short paper on ‘addiction’ to flying (see ‘Further Reading’ below). This blog uses material from my previously published articles cited below to provide some tips on making travel a little less stressful. While this blog is aimed at other academics, most of the tips are generic and apply to anyone travelling abroad.

Before you travel

• Scan important documents electronically: Rather than photocopying all your important travel information (e.g. passports, insurance documents, etc.), scan all of them electronically and then e-mail them to yourself. You will be able to retrieve them from anywhere at any time if things go wrong.
• Check your plastic: Before your trip, check all your credit cards for wear and tear as you could be stuck in a foreign country without access to cash machines or the ability to buy anything. Also, think about getting credit cards that include air miles, lounge access and upgrades (e.g. Amex cards).
• Don’t get currency at the airport: Pre-ordering your currency will almost certainly be cheaper than the exchange rate at the airport currency bureaus. Make sure you get some low denomination notes and coinage for tips, taxis, etc. However, if the country you are travelling to has a strong currency, it might be better to exchange large amounts of money there rather than in the UK.
• Treat yourself to a ‘Priority Pass’ and get premium lounge access: I’m very fortunate that on long-haul flights I travel business class which gives me access to the premium lounges before my flights. However, on most of my European trips I fly economy but I still like to use the business lounges. For this, I buy an annual ‘Priority Pass’ which gets me into 100s of lounges around the world. There are various levels of membership to suit your needs and they are good value for money.
• Check your insurance: Has the university paid for you or do you need to get it yourself? There is nothing worse than losing your luggage and then discovering that you weren’t properly insured.
• Check the weather forecast: There’s nothing worse than turning up in a country with the wrong type of clothes. Check the medium range weather forecast so that you know whether you will need that coat or jumper!
• Know what you will need to pack: In addition to all the academic things you might require (laptop, memory stick, reading material), don’t forget the necessities in addition to passport, tickets and currency (e.g. adaptors, toiletries, medical supplies). Crease-free clothing can also be a help as not every hotel will have an in-room iron and ironing board. Also, pack some plastic carrier bags for your dirty laundry.
• Check if the hotel has (preferably free) Wi-Fi: There’s nothing worse than turning up to a hotel and finding you have to pay for Wi-Fi access or worse still that there’s no Wi-Fi at all.
• Travel as lightly as possible preferably hand luggage only: Take as little luggage as you can as you will always come back with far more than you went with (e.g. papers, conference programmes, conference freebies, leaflets etc.). For one or two night trips, take all your items on as hand luggage. This can often save a lot of waiting at the baggage carousel. To avoid bulk in your luggage, decant shampoos, etc. into smaller bottles so that you carry only that which is necessary on your trip. Miniaturise as much as possible including toiletries.
• Get easily identifiable luggage: If you have to take non-hand luggage, tie a brightly coloured ribbon or something unique to your luggage so that you will easily spot it on the baggage carousel. Others are less likely to pick up your bag by mistake and may save you time.
• Make sure that people know when and where you are going: Given all the things that can possibly happen abroad, make sure you let both family and the university (supervisor, head of department, etc.) know where you are going to be.
• Charge up your laptops and mobile telephones: Make sure all your electronic items are charged up. Keep your chargers in your hand luggage as you may be able to charge up at the airport and/or the plane itself.
• Check-in online: By checking-in online, you will be able to print your boarding pass and select your seat before you even get to the airport. If you have hand luggage only, this will save valuable time – especially if you are stuck in traffic on the airport bus or your train is delayed.

On the plane itself

• Go vegetarian: If you want to maximise sleep time on long-haul flights, pre-order the vegetarian option as these are usually served first.
• Take food and water on board with you: If you are flying on a budget airline, buy a ‘meal deal’ at the airport (or make your own sandwiches) as the food on board will be more expensive. Buy a bottle of mineral water at the airport as you cannot get liquids through baggage checks and on-board drinks may by pricey.
• Book an aisle seat: On long-haul flights, always book or ask for an aisle seat if you’re not in business class. This means you will be able to get up and move round at your convenience rather than have to keep asking people to move.
• Eat and drink alcohol in moderation: It is very tempting to drink free alcohol and eat anything that’s placed in front of you on long trips. However, you should try and limit yourself as you could suffer both dehydration and indigestion.
• Beware the in-flight entertainment: The in-flight entertainment service may not be to your liking so take some interesting reading and/or a few DVDs (and play them on your laptop). DVDs and a Netflix account are also useful if you are in a hotel that has no English language television stations!
• Wear headphones: If you want a peaceful stress-free journey without talking to anyone next to you on the plane, wear mp3 player headphones (even if you are not actually listening to anything). If you are going to actually use headphones, then invest in noise-cancelling ones as they will be better for the journey (and better than the ones provided by the airline itself).
• Bring your own eye mask and ear plugs: If you are on an overnight long-haul economy flight, bring your own ear plugs and eye mask as the plane may not supply them and even if they do, they may not be of good quality. An inflatable neck pillow can also be very comfortable. Wet-wipes can also be useful in helping you feel refreshed after a few hours of sleep.

At your destination

• Find the local university: If you are short of money, try to find out where the local universities are in a city. The canteen is likely to sell cheap meals and the students will tell you about the most economical places around.
• Avoid internet roaming charges: As soon as you are in the country of your visit, turn off your data roaming on your tablet computer (e.g. iPad) or smart phone (e.g. iPhone) to avoid charges for things like emails and web browsing. In European countries there’s free roaming at the moment but that will change after Brexit!
• Make use of the hotel facilities: If your hotel gives free access to its facilities (e.g. business centre, gym, swimming pool), then take full advantage and use them. Use the business centre to email if the hotel charges in-room Wi-Fi access.
• Adjust to the local time as soon as possible: On the plane, change your watch to the local time and try to stay up and go to bed at your ‘normal’ time. If you get home in the daytime, resist the urge to have a nap as you will feel much worse for it later. Medical supplements such as melatonin may also help overcome jet-lag.
• Ask where your room is in the hotel: If you don’t ask where your hotel room is located you might end up being right next to the lift or in an outward facing room where you hear all the noisy traffic. Alternatively, take some ear plugs with you, just in case.
• Know a few words of the native language: Learning even a few basic words of the country’s language will help you in most situations.

On getting back

• Have convenience food to hand: Make sure you have something easy to prepare for eating (e.g. a ready meal in the freezer) for when you come back as you may get back late when no shops are open.
• Get in touch with your new contacts: When you are back home, email your new contacts along with anything you promised to send (like the paper you gave at the conference) to help facilitate new working relationships.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Distinguished Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Griffiths, M.D. (2003).  Tips on…Business travel abroad, British Medical Journal, 327, S38.

Griffiths, M.D. (2012). Tips on…Conference travel abroad. Psy-PAG Quarterly, 83, 4-6.

Griffiths, M.D. (2017). A brief critique of ‘flying addiction’. Global Journal of Addiction and Rehabilitation Medicine, 3(1), 555602.

Under the influence: The things I learned from David Bowie

Today is three years since the tragic death of David Bowie. As I have noted in my previous articles on David Bowie (here, here and here), outside of my own friends and family, it’s still Bowie’s death that has affected me the most psychologically. Bowie inspired millions of people in many different ways. This blog looks at the things that I have learned from Bowie and how he influenced my career.

Persevere with your life goals – Most people are aware that it took years for Bowie to have has first hit single (‘Space Oddity’, 1969), five years after his first single (‘Liza Jane’, 1964). Even after the success of ‘Space Oddity’, it took another three years before he had his second hit single (‘Starman’, 1972) and in the early 1970s there were many who thought he would be a ‘one-hit wonder’ and a small footnote in music history. Bowie never gave up his quest for musical stardom and is arguably one of the best examples of the proverb “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. I’ve often told others that they key to success is being able to learn from your mistakes and being able to handle rejection (which for academics is having papers rejected, grant bids rejected, and attempts at promotion rejected, etc.). Bowie personified perseverance and for this quality alone I am very grateful as it has been the bedrock of my career to date.

Encourage teamwork and collaboration – Despite being a solo artist for the vast majority of his post-1969 career (Tin Machine being the most high-profile notable exception), Bowie was (like me) a ‘promiscuous collaborator’ and much of his success would not have been possible without a gifted team around him whether it be his inner circle of musicians (Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Robert Fripp, Mike Garson, etc.), his producers (Tony Visconti, Nile Rogers, Ken Scott, etc.), co-writers and inspirators (Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, John Lennon, etc.), or those he jointly released music with (Mott The Hoople, Queen, Arcade Fire, Pet Shop Boys, Placebo, to name just a few). I have carried out and published research with hundreds of people during my 31-year academic career, and like Bowie, some are one-off collaborations and others are lifelong collaborations. Bowie taught me that although I can do some things by myself, it is the working with others that brings out the best in me.

Experiment to the end – Bowie was never afraid to experiment and try new things whether it was musical, pharmacological, spiritual, or sexual. Mistakes were part of the learning process and he pursued this – especially musically – until the very end of his life (for instance, on his ★ [Blackstar] album where he employed a local New York jazz combo led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin). Failure is success if we learn from it and this is one of the maxims that I live my life by. Bowie taught me that you can have lots of other interests that can be rewarding even if you are not as successful as your day job. Bowie liked to act (and obviously had some success in this area) and also liked to paint (but had much less success here than his other artistic endeavours). By any set of criteria, I am a successful academic but I also like to write journalistically and engage in a wide variety of consultancy (areas that I have had some success) and I like writing poetry (something that I have not been successful financially – although I did win a national Poetry Today competition back in 1997 and have published a number of my poems). Bowie taught me that success in one area of your life can lead to doing other more experimental and rewarding activities even if they are not as financially lucrative.

Push yourself (even in the bad times) – One of the things I love about Bowie was his ability to carry on working and being productive even when he was not at his physical best. Nowhere is this more exemplified than working on the ★ LP while undergoing chemotherapy for his liver cancer. There are also other times in his life such as when he was at the height of his cocaine addiction in 1975 where he produced some of the best music of his career (most notably the Young Americans and Station to Station LPs, the latter of which is one of my all-time favourite records). I have had a few low periods in my life due to various health, relationship and/or personal issues but I have learned through experience that work is a great analgesic and that even when you are at your lowest ebb you can still be highly productive.

Have a Protestant work ethic – Bowie was arguably one of the most hard-working musicians of all time and had what can only be described as a Protestant work ethic from the early 1960s right up until his heart attack in 2004. I am a great believer in the philosophy that “you get out what you put in” and Bowie exemplified this. Andy Warhol told Lou Reed while he was in the Velvet Underground that he should work hard, because work is all that really matters (and was the subject of the song ‘Work’ on the seminal Songs For Drella LP by Reed and John Cale). Bowie also appeared to live by this mantra and is something that I adhere to myself (and is why I am often described as being a workaholic). While Bowie isn’t my only role model in this regard, he’s certainly the most high-profile.

Lead by example but acknowledge your influences – Bowie had a unique gift in being able to borrow from his own heroes but turn it into something of his own (without ever forgetting his own heroes and influences – his Pin Ups LP probably being the best example of this). One of my favourite phrases is “Don’t jump on the bandwagon, create it”, and this has as underpinned a lot of the research areas that I have initiated and is something that I learned from Bowie. Maybe Bowie is a case of the quote often attributed to Oscar Wilde that “talent borrows, genius steals”.

Promote yourself – If there is one thing that Bowie was gifted in as much as his songwriting, it was his own art of self-promotion. Bowie always had the knack to generate news stories about himself and his work without seemingly trying. By the end of his career, it was the act of not saying anything or doing any personal publicity that was just as newsworthy. Bowie intuitively knew how to garner media publicity on his own terms in a way that very few others can. (I also argued that another one of my heroes – Salvador Dali – did the same thing in one of my articles on him in The Psychologist back in 1994). I’d like to think I am good at promoting my work and Bowie is one of my role models in this regard.

Be opportunistic and flexible – If there is one thing besides working hard that sums up my career to date, it is being opportunistic and flexible. As a voracious reader of all things Bowie since my early teens, I always loved Bowie’s sense of adventure and just following paths because they might lead you to something unexpected. Whether it was his use of the ‘cut up’ technique for writing lyrics (developed by Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs), his use of Brian Eno’s ‘oblique strategy’ cards, or his love of studio improvisation (such as on the Berlin trilogy albums and the Outside LP), Bowie showed that inspiration for his musical and lyrical ideas could come from anywhere – from a person, from a fleeting observation, from something he read, from something he heard or saw in film or TV programme, and from his own life experiences. I too have taken this approach to my work and believe I am a much better person for it.

Be a mentor to others – Whatever career path you follow, mentors are key in developing talent and Bowie was a mentor to many people that he personally worked with (including many of the artists I named in the section on encouraging teamwork and collaboration above) as well as being an inspirational influence to those he never met (including myself).

Learn from those younger and less experienced than yourself – Paradoxically, despite being an influence on millions of people across many walks of life, Bowie was never afraid to learn from those much younger than himself and exemplified the maxim that you’re never too old to learn new things. He loved innovation and ideas and would soak it up from whoever was around him. As I have got older, this is something that I value more and am never afraid to learn from those much younger or seemingly less experienced than myself – particularly my PhD students.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Distinguished Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Buckley, D. (2005). Strange Fascination: David Bowie – The Definitive Story. London: Virgin Books.

Cann, K. (2010). Any Day Now: David Bowie The London Years (1947-1974). Adelita.

Goddard, S. (2015). Ziggyology. London: Ebury Press.

Griffiths, M.D. (1994). Heroes: Salvador Dali. The Psychologist: Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 7, 240.

Hewitt, P. (2013). David Bowie Album By Album. London: Carlton Books Ltd.

Leigh, W. (2014). Bowie: The Biography. London: Gallery.

Pegg, N. (2011). The Complete David Bowie. London: Titan Books.

Seabrook, T.J. (2008). Bowie In Berlin: A New Career In A New Town. London: Jawbone.

Spitz, M. (2009). Bowie: A Biography. Crown Archetype.

Trynka, P. (2011). Starman: David Bowie – The Definitive Biography. London: Little Brown & Company.

Under the influence: Ten things I’ve learned from David Bowie

It’s now been a year since the tragic death of David Bowie and this is my fourth blog on him in that period (my others being my personal reflections on the psychology of Bowie, Bowie and the Beatles, and Bowie and the occult). Outside of my own friends and family, it’s still Bowie’s death that has affected me the most psychologically but at least I still have his music to listen to. Bowie inspired millions of people in many different ways. This blog looks at the things that I have learned from Bowie and how he influenced my career.

Persevere with your life goals – Most people are aware that it took years for Bowie to have has first hit single (‘Space Oddity’, 1969), five years after his first single (‘Liza Jane’, 1964). Even after the success of ‘Space Oddity’, it took another three years before he had his second hit single (‘Starman’, 1972) and in the early 1970s there were many who thought he would be a ‘one-hit wonder’ and a small footnote in music history. Bowie never gave up his quest for musical stardom and is arguably one of the best examples of the proverb “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. I’ve often told others that they key to success is being able to learn from your mistakes and being able to handle rejection (which for academics is having papers rejected, grant bids rejected, and attempts at promotion rejected, etc.). Bowie personified perseverance and for this quality alone I am very grateful as it has been the bedrock of my career to date.

Encourage teamwork and collaboration – Despite being a solo artist for the vast majority of his post-1969 career (Tin Machine being the most high-profile notable exception), Bowie was (like me) a ‘promiscuous collaborator’ and much of his success would not have been possible without a gifted team around him whether it be his inner circle of musicians (Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Robert Fripp, Mike Garson, etc.), his producers (Tony Visconti, Nile Rogers, Ken Scott, etc.), co-writers and inspirators (Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, John Lennon, etc.), or those he jointly released music with (Mott The Hoople, Queen, Arcade Fire, Pet Shop Boys, Placebo, to name just a few). I have carried out and published research with hundreds of people during my 30-year academic career, and like Bowie, some are one-off collaborations and others are lifelong collaborations. Bowie taught me that although I can do some things by myself, it is the working with others that brings out the best in me.

Experiment to the end – Bowie was never afraid to experiment and try new things whether it was musical, pharmacological, spiritual, or sexual. Mistakes were part of the learning process and he pursued this – especially musically – until the very end of his life (for instance, on his ★ [Blackstar] album where he employed a local New York jazz combo led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin). Failure is success if we learn from it and this is one of the maxims that I live my life by. Bowie taught me that you can have lots of other interests that can be rewarding even if you are not as successful as your day job. Bowie liked to act (and obviously had some success in this area) and also liked to paint (but had much less success here than his other artistic endeavours). By any set of criteria, I am a successful academic but I also like to write journalistically and engage in a wide variety of consultancy (areas that I have had some success) and I like writing poetry (something that I have not been successful financially – although I did win a national Poetry Today competition back in 1997 and have published a number of my poems). Bowie taught me that success in one area of your life can lead to doing other more experimental and rewarding activities even if they are not as financially lucrative.

Push yourself (even in the bad times) – One of the things I love about Bowie was his ability to carry on working and being productive even when he was not at his physical best. Nowhere is this more exemplified than working on the ★ LP while undergoing chemotherapy for his liver cancer. There are also other times in his life such as when he was at the height of his cocaine addiction in 1975 where he produced some of the best music of his career (most notably the Young Americans and Station to Station LPs, the latter of which is one of my all-time favourite records). I have had a few low periods in my life due to various health, relationship and/or personal issues but I have learned through experience that work is a great analgesic and that even when you are at your lowest ebb you can still be highly productive.

Have a Protestant work ethic – Bowie was arguably one of the most hard-working musicians of all time and had what can only be described as a Protestant work ethic from the early 1960s right up until his heart attack in 2004. I am a great believer in the philosophy that “you get out what you put in” and Bowie exemplified this. Andy Warhol told Lou Reed while he was in the Velvet Underground that he should work hard, because work is all that really matters (and was the subject of the song ‘Work’ on the seminal Songs For Drella LP by Reed and John Cale). Bowie also appeared to live by this mantra and is something that I adhere to myself (and is why I am often described as being a workaholic). While Bowie isn’t my only role model in this regard, he’s certainly the most high-profile.

Lead by example but acknowledge your influences – Bowie had a unique gift in being able to borrow from his own heroes but turn it into something of his own (without ever forgetting his own heroes and influences – his Pin Ups LP probably being the best example of this). One of my favourite phrases is “Don’t jump on the bandwagon, create it”, and this has as underpinned a lot of the research areas that I have initiated and is something that I learned from Bowie. Maybe Bowie is a case of the quote often attributed to Oscar Wilde that “talent borrows, genius steals”.

Promote yourself – If there is one thing that Bowie was gifted in as much as his songwriting, it was his own art of self-promotion. Bowie always had the knack to generate news stories about himself and his work without seemingly trying. By the end of his career, it was the act of not saying anything or doing any personal publicity that was just as newsworthy. Bowie intuitively knew how to garner media publicity on his own terms in a way that very few others can. (I also argued that another one of my heroes – Salvador Dali – did the same thing in one of my articles on him in The Psychologist back in 1994). I’d like to think I am good at promoting my work and Bowie is one of my role models in this regard.

Be opportunistic and flexible – If there is one thing besides working hard that sums up my career to date, it is being opportunistic and flexible. As a voracious reader of all things Bowie since my early teens, I always loved Bowie’s sense of adventure and just following paths because they might lead you to something unexpected. Whether it was his use of the ‘cut up’ technique for writing lyrics (developed by Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs), his use of Brian Eno’s ‘oblique strategy’ cards, or his love of studio improvisation (such as on the Berlin trilogy albums and the Outside LP), Bowie showed that inspiration for his musical and lyrical ideas could come from anywhere – from a person, from a fleeting observation, from something he read, from something he heard or saw in film or TV programme, and from his own life experiences. I too have taken this approach to my work and believe I am a much better person for it.

Be a mentor to others – Whatever career path you follow, mentors are key in developing talent and Bowie was a mentor to many people that he personally worked with (including many of the artists I named in the section on encouraging teamwork and collaboration above) as well as being an inspirational influence to those he never met (including myself).

Learn from those younger and less experienced than yourself – Paradoxically, despite being an influence on millions of people across many walks of life, Bowie was never afraid to learn from those much younger than himself and exemplified the maxim that you’re never too old to learn new things. He loved innovation and ideas and would soak it up from whoever was around him. As I have got older, this is something that I value more and am never afraid to learn from those much younger or seemingly less experienced than myself – particularly my PhD students.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Buckley, D. (2005). Strange Fascination: David Bowie – The Definitive Story. London: Virgin Books.

Cann, K. (2010). Any Day Now: David Bowie The London Years (1947-1974). Adelita.

Goddard, S. (2015). Ziggyology. London: Ebury Press.

Griffiths, M.D. (1994). Heroes: Salvador Dali. The Psychologist: Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 7, 240.

Hewitt, P. (2013). David Bowie Album By Album. London: Carlton Books Ltd.

Leigh, W. (2014). Bowie: The Biography. London: Gallery.

Pegg, N. (2011). The Complete David Bowie. London: Titan Books.

Seabrook, T.J. (2008). Bowie In Berlin: A New Career In A New Town. London: Jawbone.

Spitz, M. (2009). Bowie: A Biography. Crown Archetype.

Trynka, P. (2011). Starman: David Bowie – The Definitive Biography. London: Little Brown & Company.

A cite for more I’s? A brief personal look at obsessive self-citation

All of us who are involved in any kind of academic writing have to conform to minimum standards such as the meticulous recording of source material in the form of cited references. Griffiths (2005) noted that there are three main reasons why people use references. These being (i) the expression of an idea has been put forward more clearly elsewhere by someone else, (ii) to make specific reference to relevant past literature, and (iii) to provide suggestions for further background reading.

These reasons can also be applied to self-citation. However, self-citation has additional advantages. Griffiths (2005) also notes that self-citation references can also be used to (i) let journal reviewers and referees know who has written the paper (which may not always be a good thing!), (ii) to establish to readers your reputation in a given area and/or (iii) satisfy cravings to see your name in print! In today’s blog I aim to examine the art of obsessive self-citation in academic writing and give some effortless hints and tips.

It has previously been asserted that self-citation is academia’s way of expressing one’s ego although this was based on anecdotal evidence rather than any kind of empirical investigation (Griffiths, 2016a). After an exhaustive literature search it perhaps came as no surprise that I found absolutely nothing on the subject of self-citation except an unpublished paper by myself (Griffiths, 2013) which has been described as “the best article in this area” (Griffiths, 2016b).

So what can the experienced and obsessive self-citation expert get up to in the course of a single article? Self-citation aficionados are known to use such tricks as referring to themselves in less conventional formats such as letters to national newspaper (e.g. Griffiths, 1998), articles in international newspapers (Griffiths, 2014), articles in national newspapers (e.g. Griffiths, 2016c), articles in local newspapers (Griffiths, 2016d), educational leaflets (e.g. Griffiths, 1993a), consultancy reports (e.g. Griffiths, 2002a) or blogs (Griffiths, 2016e).

However, these work most effectively if they are buried away amongst more conventional references such as books and refereed journal articles. Those experienced in obsessive self-citation will often sink to even murkier depths. For instance, self-citation is an excellent way of introducing something that seems implausible into your argument. Two common ways to disguise implausibility is the liberal use of such phrases as “paper forthcoming”, “manuscript submitted for publication”, “internal report” or “personal communication” (however, the latter should be used very sparingly as it suggests that the author is someone who talks about things more than writing them). If you sprinkle these into an article and intersperse them with a few very genuine citations such as books you wrote which received very good reviews (Griffiths, 1995; 2002b) or some of your good and/or highly cited refereed journal papers spread across a number of years (Auer & Griffiths, 2015; Cole & Griffiths, 2007; Griffiths, 1991a; 1993b; 1994; 1996; 1997; 1999; 2000; 2001; 2003; 2004; 2008; 2010; Griffiths, Kuss, Billieux & Pontes, 2016; Kuss, Griffiths & Binder, 2013) it can look very professional and in some cases impressive (or just show you to be the egomaniac that you are).

For the really experienced, secondary self-citation or embedded self-citations can often be useful. This is a technique where you can use quotes attributed to you in a newspaper or magazine article written by someone else (e.g. Griffiths, 1991b) although it looks as though it is one of the author’s bona fide references.

However, as my last word on the subject, I will leave you with one practice you should definitely avoid. I am referring to the inclusion of self-citation by pseudonym that has been described by Mithgriffs (2015) as “a despicable habit that should be stamped out”.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

References

Auer, M. & Griffiths, M.D. (2015). Testing normative and self-appraisal feedback in an online slot-machine pop-up message in a real-world setting. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 339. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00339.

Cole, H. & Griffiths, M.D. (2007). Social interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing gamers. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 10, 575-583.

Griffiths, M.D. (1991a). The observational study of adolescent gambling in UK amusement arcades. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 1, 309-320.

Griffiths, M.D. (1991b). Cited in Neustatter, A. “Keyboard junkies”. The Independent on Sunday Review, November 17, p.64.

Griffiths, M.D. (1993a). Your child and video games: Advice for parents. Coventry: National Council for Educational Technology (leaflet).

Griffiths, M.D. (1993b). Tolerance in gambling: An objective measure using the psychophysiological analysis of male fruit machine gamblers. Addictive Behaviors, 18, 365-372.

Griffiths, M.D. (1994). The role of cognitive bias and skill in fruit machine gambling. British Journal of Psychology, 85, 351-369.

Griffiths, M. (1995). Adolescent Gambling. London: Routledge.

Griffiths, M.D. (1996). Pathological gambling and its treatment. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35, 477-479.

Griffiths, M.D. (1997). Video games and clinical practice: Issues, uses and treatments. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36, 639- 641.

Griffiths, M.D. (1998). Unlucky number for under-16s. The Guardian, February 25, p.15.

Griffiths, M.D. (1999). Counselling in the treatment of pathological gambling: An overview. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 27, 179-190.

Griffiths, M.D. (2000). Internet addiction – Time to be taken seriously? Addiction Research, 8, 413-418.

Griffiths, M.D. (2001). Sex on the Internet: Observations and implications for sex addiction. Journal of Sex Research, 38, 333-342.

Griffiths, M.D. (2002a). The Social Impact of Casinos. Nottingham: Browne-Jackson.

Griffiths, M.D. (2002b). Gambling and Gaming Addictions in Adolescence. Leicester: British Psychological Society/Blackwells.

Griffiths, M.D. (2003). The therapeutic use of videogames in childhood and adolescence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 547-554.

Griffiths, M.D. (2004a). Odds and sods: You (nearly) win again. The Guardian, April 20, p. 6.

Griffiths, M.D. (2004b). Can videogames be good for your health? Journal of Health Psychology, 9, 339-344.

Griffiths, M.D. (2005). Self-citation: A practical guide. Null Hypothesis: The Journal of Unlikely Science (‘Best of’ issue), 15-16.

Griffiths, M.D. (2008). The biopsychosocial and “complex” systems approach as a unified framework for addiction. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31, 446-447.

Griffiths, M.D. (2010). The role of context in online gaming excess and addiction: Some case study evidence. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8, 119-125.

Griffiths, M. (2013). The art of self-citation. Article submitted for publication.

Griffiths, M.D. (2014). Sunshine: As addictive as heroin? Washington Post. June 24. Located at http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/06/24/sunshine-as-addictive-as-heroin/

Griffiths, M. (2016a). Personal communication with myself. September 29, 2016.

Griffiths, M.D. (2016b). Personal communication with myself. September 29, 2016.

Griffiths, M.D. (2016c). It will rule your life but addicts can be helped. Sunday Mirror, May 1, p.5.

Griffiths, M.D. (2016d). Sorry may be the hardest word but more people than ever are saying it. Nottingham Post, April 11, p.14.

Griffiths, M.D. (2016e). Market forces: Does gambling advertising increase problem gambling? August 22. Located at: https://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/market-forces-does-gambling-advertising-increase-problem-gambling/

Griffiths, M.D., Kuss, D.J., Billieux J. & Pontes, H.M. (2016). The evolution of internet addiction: A global perspective. Addictive Behaviors, 53, 193–195.

Kuss, D.J., Griffiths, M.D. & Binder, J. (2013). Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 959-966.

Mithgriffs, G. (2015). Whose self-citation is it anyway? Occasional Made-Up Paper (No.3).

Cite seeing: A brief guide for academics to increase their citation count

Apologies to any non-academics reading my blog today but this article will be of more interest to academic researchers than anyone else as it examines the strategies that I have used to get (what some people have claimed as) an “excessive” number of citations to my published work. All academics are aware that the use of bibliometric data is becoming ever more important in academia. Along with impact factors of academic journals, one of the most important bibliometric indicators is citation counts. These are increasingly being used in a number of contexts including internal assessment (e.g., going for a job promotion) and external assessments (e.g., use in the Research Excellence Framework [REF] as a proxy measure of quality and impact).

In June 2016 I reached close to 30,000 citations on Google Scholar and this is good evidence that what I do day-to-day works. I have an h-index of 91 (i.e., at least 91 of my papers have been cited 91 times) and an i10-index of 377 (i.e., a least 377 of my papers have been cited 10 times).

Citation counts take years to accumulate but you can help boost your citations in a number of different ways. Here are my tips and strategies that I personally use and that I know work. It probably goes without saying that the more you write and publish, the greater the number of citations. However, here are my top ten tips and based on a number of review papers on the topic (see ‘Further reading’ below):

• Choose your paper’s keywords carefully: In an age of search engines and academic database searching, keywords in your publications are critical. Key words and phrases in the paper’s title and abstract are also useful for search purposes.
• Use the same name on all your papers and use ORCID: I wish someone had told me at the start of my career that name initials were important. I had no idea that there were so many academics called ‘Mark Griffiths’. Adding my middle initial (‘D’) has helped a lot. You can also use an ORCID or ResearcherID and link it to your publications.
• Make your papers as easily accessible as possible: Personally, I make good use of many different websites to upload papers and articles to (ResearchGate and academia.edu being the two most useful to me personally). Your own university institutional repositories can also be useful in this respect. All self-archiving is useful. It is also especially important to keep research pages up-to-date if you want your most recent papers to be read and cited.
• Disseminate and promote your research wherever you can: I find that many British academics do not like to publicise their work but ever since I was a PhD student I have promoted my work in as many different places as possible including conferences, seminars, workshops and the mass media. More recently I have used social media excessively (such as tweeting links to papers I’ve just published). I also write media releases for work that I think will have mass appeal and work with my university Press Office to ensure dissemination is as wide as possible. I also actively promote my work in other ways including personal dissemination (e.g., my blogs) as well as sending copies of papers to key people in my field in addition to interested stakeholder groups (policymakers, gaming industry, treatment providers, etc.). I have a high profile web presence via my many websites.
• Cite your previously published papers: Self-citation is often viewed quite negatively by some academics but it is absolutely fine to cite your own work where relevant on a new manuscript. Citing my own work has never hurt my academic career.
• Publish in journals that you know others in your field read: Although many academics aim to get in the highest impact factor journal that they can, this doesn’t always lead to the highest number of citations. For instance, when I submit a gambling paper I often submit to the Journal of Gambling Studies (Impact factor=2.75). This is because gambling is a very interdisciplinary field and many of my colleagues (who work in disparate disciplines – law, criminology, social policy, economics, sociology, etc.) don’t read psychology journals. Some of my highest cited papers have been in specialist journals.
• Try to publish in Open Access journals: Research has consistently shown that Open Access papers get higher citation rates than non-Open Access papers.
• Write review papers: Although I publish lots of empirical papers I learned very early on in my academic career that review papers are more likely to be cited. I often try to write the first review papers in particular areas as everyone then has to cite them! Some types of outputs (especially those that don’t have an abstract) are usually poorly cited (e.g., editorials, letters to editors).
• Submit to special issues of journals: Submitting a paper to a special issue of a journal increases the likelihood that others in your field will read it (as it will have more visibility). Papers won’t be cited if they are not read in the first place!
• Publish collaboratively and where possible with international teams. Again, research has consistently shown that working with others collaboratively (i.e., team-authored papers) and in an international context has been shown to significantly increase citation counts.

Finally, here are a few more nuggets of information that you should know when thinking about how to improve your citation counts.

• There is a correlation between number of citations and the impact factor of the journal but if you work in an interdisciplinary field like me, more specialist journals may lead to higher citation counts.
• The size of the paper and reference list correlates with citation counts (although this may be connected with review papers as they are generally longer and get more cited than non-review papers.
• Publish with ‘big names’ in the field. Publishing with the pioneers in your field will lead to more citations.
• Get you work on Wikipedia References cited by Wikipedia pages get cited more. In fact, write Wikipedia pages for topics in your areas.
• Somewhat bizarrely (but true) papers that ask a question in the title have lower citation rates. Titles that have colons in the title have higher citation rates.

Note: A version of this article was first published in the PsyPAG Quarterly (see below)

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addictions, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Ball, P. (2011). Are scientific reputations boosted artificially? Nature, May 6. Located at: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110506/full/news.2011.270.html (last accessed April 27, 2015).

Bornmann, L., & Daniel, H. D. (2008). What do citation counts measure? A review of studies on citing behavior. Journal of Documentation, 64(1), 45-80.

Corbyn, Z. (2010). An easy way to boost a paper’s citations. Nature, August 13. Located at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/news.2010.406 (last accessed April 27, 2015).

Ebrahim. N. A. (2012). Publication marketing tools – Enhancing research visibility and improving citations. University of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Available at: http://works.bepress.com/aleebrahim/64

Ebrahim, N., Salehi, H., Embi, M. A., Habibi, F., Gholizadeh, H., Motahar, S. M., & Ordi, A. (2013). Effective strategies for increasing citation frequency. International Education Studies, 6(11), 93-99.

Ebrahim, N.A., Salehi, H., Embi, M. A., Habibi, F., Gholizadeh, H., & Motahar, S. M. (2014). Visibility and citation impact. International Education Studies, 7(4), 120-125.

Griffiths, M.D. (2005). Self-citation: A practical guide. Null Hypothesis: The Journal of Unlikely Science (‘Best of’ issue), 15-16.

Griffiths, M.D. (2015). How to improve your citation count. Psy-PAG Quarterly, 96, 23-24.

Jamali, H. R., & Nikzad, M. (2011). Article title type and its relation with the number of downloads and citations. Scientometrics, 88(2), 653-661.

Marashi, S.-A., Amin, H.-N., Alishah, K., Hadi, M., Karimi, A., & Hosseinian, S. (2013). Impact of Wikipedia on citation trends. EXCLI Journal, 12, 15-19.

MacCallum, C. J., & Parthasarathy, H. (2006). Open Access increases citation rate. PLoS Biology, 4(5), e176, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0040176

Swan, A. (2010) The Open Access citation advantage: Studies and results to date. Located at: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/268516/ (last accessed April 27, 2015).

Vanclay, J. K. (2013). Factors affecting citation rates in environmental science. Journal of Informetrics, 7(2), 265-271.

van Wesel, M., Wyatt, S., & ten Haaf, J. (2014). What a difference a colon makes: How superficial factors influence subsequent citation. Scientometrics, 98(3): 1601–1615.