Citations in the Book

Use this forum to discuss the August 2020 Book of the month, " Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide" by Gustavo Kinrys, MD.
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Howlan
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Re: Citations in the Book

Post by Howlan »

Joseph_ngaruiya wrote: 20 Aug 2020, 14:23
Alexander6117 wrote: 16 Aug 2020, 22:20 I agree with your post. Though the book does have a thorough “Suggested Further Reading” section, it would have been helpful to have them directly linked throughout the book in the sections that are about those specific topics. As you said, it would have also been beneficial to have the studies mentioned in the footnotes. That way readers could have the chance to directly see the findings and data beyond what the book already summarized of it.
I think if citation was given after every remedy, the book would look disorganized. That’s why most citations are given in the last pages of the book.
The Suggested reading at the end of the book sure plays a good reference, but it often gets missed out mainly because it is the end of the book. Also, it is not properly linked to topics. For example, you have to search for an article out of the five pages which can be difficult in a paperback.
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Post by Howlan »

Ada Ling wrote: 19 Aug 2020, 12:29 Yes, a citation will help make this book more convincing. But since the authors are MD, I am not that much worried about citation. I would trust the authors' experience. Of course, we need to be critical when choosing the method the authors suggested. Each people is different, and I would be cautious about consulting your own doctor to have a tailed plan.
Yes, again at the end of the day, it is not important how much information you have on a topic it is about how you lay it out to your audience. In a practical handbook such as these, you should lay out all the important points and put the background work as a reference.
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Post by Intel »

I agree with your points because any information given, especially something factual or taught to others should have credible references. Not only to avoid suspicion, but to assist anyone who wants to further their research as well.
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Post by AnonReviewer2211 »

I was also somewhat disappointed with the citations because they were scarce, and if present, were not presented very well. It is understandable that a detailed description of medical studies was avoided to keep the book's length short, but properly citing them using numeric indices would have been helpful. In the present case, it would take an earnest and strong-willed reader to go through those references and cross-check the author's claims.
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Post by djr6090 »

It's not that the citations were missing, but that they were not linked to the narrative of the book. A footnote/link to one of the sources in the bibliography would have helped. I like to persue anything I am curious about as an aside at the point in which I have been introduced to the subject. My favorite way is to highlight the topic and search web right then. But in this book, I didn't find anything all that controversial.
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

I agree, it would add much more credibility to some assertions and help people who want to do further research. Perhaps they could be included in a way that didn't interrupt the flow of the reading.
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Post by WardahEbrahim »

B00kN1nja wrote: 04 Aug 2020, 13:52 I really wish this book had included some source citations, even just simple footnotes for some of the information. As someone from an academic background, I really think this adds credibility and aids readers who are looking for more, especially in a world filled with false information. I do not think the authors were being dishonest, either intentionally or unintentionally, but just a few footnote citations would have improved my view of the book. Especially in circumstances where the authors say something like "one study found that", I think including a citation is really important for the authors' credibility and giving credit to the team that did the "one study".

I do realize that it was supposed to be a practical and accessible guide and that packing it full of references to scientific articles would impede that goal, but I think there has to be some middle ground. What are other peoples' thoughts on this?
I agree with you completely. This is not first book I read that has this problem. I also think if you're going to offer advice, especially about health you have to do credible research. The danger is that people follow blindly, and in some cases take the wrong advice. Not saying it's the case here, but work needs to be checked.

There's a pain relief cream company that references studies supporting their product. But the references date back over 10 years ago and is definitely outdated and the product is honestly bogus. And this is why referencing is NB.
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Post by Cyrus Michino »

I really wished the book had included a few citations or even some footnotes for reference.
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Post by Essywa »

I think Citations makes it easier for the reader to differentiate the author's ideas from other authors.
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Post by Diana Lowery »

I think the simple format (without citations) made the book more appealing to a wider audience; however, I did question the validity of the information. Perhaps there could have been a disclaimer at the beginning and an option to download a copy with the appropriate footnotes.
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Post by Kevivas03 »

A few citations would definitely have helped. It increases credibility and would help to make this guide the go-to book for dealing with stress and anxiety.
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Post by Howlan »

WardahEbrahim wrote: 26 Aug 2020, 15:37
B00kN1nja wrote: 04 Aug 2020, 13:52 I really wish this book had included some source citations, even just simple footnotes for some of the information. As someone from an academic background, I really think this adds credibility and aids readers who are looking for more, especially in a world filled with false information. I do not think the authors were being dishonest, either intentionally or unintentionally, but just a few footnote citations would have improved my view of the book. Especially in circumstances where the authors say something like "one study found that", I think including a citation is really important for the authors' credibility and giving credit to the team that did the "one study".

I do realize that it was supposed to be a practical and accessible guide and that packing it full of references to scientific articles would impede that goal, but I think there has to be some middle ground. What are other peoples' thoughts on this?
I agree with you completely. This is not first book I read that has this problem. I also think if you're going to offer advice, especially about health you have to do credible research. The danger is that people follow blindly, and in some cases take the wrong advice. Not saying it's the case here, but work needs to be checked.

There's a pain relief cream company that references studies supporting their product. But the references date back over 10 years ago and is definitely outdated and the product is honestly bogus. And this is why referencing is NB.
Yes, similar examples are widespread online. I think citations are required to feed the interest of those readers who want o know more about a topic especially when they think of performing the job themselves. And also due to the fact that sometimes the author might miss a critical point of information regarding that topic which may prove important when the reader tries to perform the job themselves.
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Post by Howlan »

Lunastella wrote: 26 Aug 2020, 09:51 I agree, it would add much more credibility to some assertions and help people who want to do further research. Perhaps they could be included in a way that didn't interrupt the flow of the reading.
Yes, and the jumbled up bibliography at the end was very difficult to understnad as it want done in basis of the order in which the topics appeared in the book and their was no link to them. it was difficult to find the appropiate content from three pages and is very inefficient.
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Post by Howlan »

AnonReviewer2211 wrote: 23 Aug 2020, 02:03 I was also somewhat disappointed with the citations because they were scarce, and if present, were not presented very well. It is understandable that a detailed description of medical studies was avoided to keep the book's length short, but properly citing them using numeric indices would have been helpful. In the present case, it would take an earnest and strong-willed reader to go through those references and cross-check the author's claims.
Yes, that is true. I think rather than that small footnotes or linking topics to a glossary can be much more effective than what this book has to offer.
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Post by PhyllisAnne »

I agree that citations would have improved my view of this book. I also come from an academic background and think that adding the citations in there not only give credibility to what you are saying but it's also just a testament to the work other people have also put into this subject (which in turn lends to its credibility). What really got me was the back and forth on the references to the various studies. The authors specifically mentioned that not a lot of research had been made for certain options while there seemed to be more definitive research on other cases but all we have is his word for it. With such specific attention to the studies involved, it was really disappointing that we didn't get to see any of it as readers. Another aspect to the citations is that especially with psychology, the age of the source is really important in terms of its reliability and currency with new discoveries.
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