Move 1b--literature review

      Citations are widely recognized as being an important and distinctive property of academic texts. As a consequence, the presence or absence of citations allows the casual reader to get an immediate sense of whether a text is an "academic" or "popular" one. Because citation is such an obvious surface phenomenon, it has been much discussed in the academic world. Indeed, there are several theories about the role and purpose of citations in academic texts. Some theories consider citation as tool for the authors themselves, either serving to create a research space (Swales, 1990) or to demonstrate expertise (Bavelas, 1978) and convince the authority of his or her article (Gilbert, 1977). Many theories, however, consider from the angle of previous writers. For example, Ravetz (1971) argued that citations operate as mutual reward, a form of "payment" to other authors. The main idea of these theories is that citations are used to show respect to the previous scholars and acknowledge their works.