Stop Posting Your Citation Count

Key points

Citations measure attention, not research quality or rigor.

Non-replicable studies often get more citations than solid ones.

Prestige and novelty (not methods) drive citation counts.

Transparency metrics like TOP Factor better signal research quality.

I usually write about social connection and loneliness , but every few months I return to research methods. This is one of those moments.

I often see researchers posting celebratory messages on LinkedIn when they reach a citation milestone (e.g., 10,000 citations). Recently, researchers have been posting screenshots of their Clarivate citation counts. I understand the appeal, especially if you work so hard for years. And academia treats these numbers as professional currency. But there is a fundamental problem: The evidence