Citation Cartels

Citation cartels are networks of researchers or journals that systematically cite each other's work to inflate impact metrics, manipulate journal rankings, and create the appearance of consensus around particular claims or approaches. They are a structural pathology of the peer review and citation system, not merely individual misconduct.

Citation cartels produce epistemic fragility by making the citation network — a supposed map of intellectual influence — into a map of social coordination. When citation becomes a currency traded in closed networks, the epistemic trust function of the literature collapses. The most sophisticated form is impact factor gaming, in which journals manipulate their own metrics through editorial policy.