I have never agreed with obfuscating first names in the hopes of gender equality. In cases where anonymity is required, then no part of the name should be given for obvious reasons. When citing a person by name the point is to give credit, in whatever form, to a specific person. This might be to credit an original idea or to garner credibility for one's own, but in any event you are crediting an individual. In citing another person you are, by definition, drawing attention to them. If some individuals will engage in sexist decisions based on that knowledge then the problem is deeper than the citation system and will not be solved by hiding first names. Further, two obfuscate the first name is contradictory to the notion of citing another's work. They are people, not anonymous, genderless boxes of information. While I agree there is sometimes a sexist aspect to people's viewing of other works, the citations system should not be predicated on it. Rather, it should seek only to clearly identify the path that knowledge and ideas have taken from their genesis to current use. This represents a cornerstone of progressive research. That is my two cents, please feel free to tell me why I am wrong. -Gordon Carlson -University of Illinois at Chicago On Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 4:47 PM, <richard.ling@telenor.com> wrote:
Hello all,
I need advice on the style of citations. I generally use only initials for first names in the name of gender equality. The idea being that the reader will judge the citation not by the gender of the author but by the quality of the work.
I have recently been asked to change this format to include full given names. In addition to being a pain to look up all the names it seems to violate the gender equality idea.
Is there a clear praxis here?
Rich Ling ________________________________________ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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