Predictors of citations in written feedback on ESL writing research

Abstract

Getting cited is important for scholars in the burgeoning field of written feedback on English as a second language (ESL) writing. While much depends on the quality of the paper and the reputation of the author, there are a range of subjective factors that are known to impact on citation counts generally. The present study investigated the effects of 11 journal- and paper-based variables on the age-weighted citation rates (measured using data from Google Scholar) of a comprehensive body of 376 research articles on the topic of written feedback on ESL writing (spanning 1980-2018). It was found that the following factors positively predicted the citation rates of papers; a) the journal of publication, b) its publishing company, c) the journal's impact factor, d) inclusion on the Social Sciences or Emerging Sources Citation Indices and SCOPUS, e) subscription access to the journal, f) appearance in a specialist publication, g) paper length, and h) age of the article. The presence of keywords and title lengths were found to negatively correlate. The implications of the findings are discussed, and recommendations for future authors seeking to improve article citability are provided.