The Sources of Four Commonly Reported Cutoff Criteria

Abstract

Everyone can recite methodological “urban legends” that were taught in graduate school, learned over the years through experience publishing, or perhaps just heard through the grapevine. In this article, the authors trace four widely cited and reported cutoff criteria to their (alleged) original sources to determine whether they really said what they are cited as having said about the cutoff criteria, and if not, what the original sources really said. The authors uncover partial truths in tracing the history of each cutoff criterion and in the end endorse a set of 12 specific guidelines for effective academic referencing provided by Harzing that, if adopted, should help prevent the further perpetuation of methodological urban legends.