An exploratory systematic review of self-citations in the top-tier journals of applied linguistics

Abstract The focus on ensuring quality control measures and ethics is gaining more and more prominence in the field of applied linguistics; and in this avenue, researchers are examining Questionable Research Practices (QRPs). In this study, we set out to examine self-citations within QRPs as a form of self-promotion that may unjustifiably boost the scientometrics of academics and may lead to unfair advantages. To this end, we created a database of recent open-access articles from the last five years (2019–2023) published in the five leading journals in applied linguistics ( k = 359). Our findings suggest that there is a high extent of self-citations, and there are significant differences in the total counts of self-citations in the selected journals. Based on the COPE (2019) guidelines, the range of excessive self-citations is relatively high in the selected journals. Policy is needed to be included in author guidelines regarding what excessive self-citation means.