Normative and Informational Citing Conformity: A different Indication of the Collective Priority of Citations

The research conducted on citation behaviors show that whatever the number of citations an article receives in the first publication year, more is expected in the years after. The present research aims at exploring a distinct explanation for this phenomenon based on Citing Conformity factor. The research has been done in two separate parts. The first part was a survey that was conducted to assess the level of Citation Conformity of research sample. The second part was performed using citation analysis method, to identify the citation behavior patterns of authors based on their articles. The data gathered was analyzed using Multiple-Regression Method and stepwise model in order to assign the power of Normative Citing Conformity and Informational Citing Conformity factors in prediction of authors’ citation behavior patterns. Results of the Regression analysis indicated that part of the variance of this phenomenon is justifiable based on Citing Conformity. The results showed that Informational Citing Conformity was more predictable than Normative Citing Conformity, i.e., authors basically consider the number of article citations based on a presumed honesty in thought and action. Another motivation for citing such articles is conformity with group norms. The results revealed that the type of special norms in citation networks, as virtual social networks, can follow group norms like Citation Conformity. It is necessary to consider the effects of these norms in order to validate citation index.