PRESTIGE BIAS:
When scientists only cite articles from, or follow the opinion of, prestigious universities, institutes, or other popular authors without evaluating whether the content, or arguments presented are relevant, or of high quality. Prestige Bias may be evident when a scientist feels that the probability of their paper becoming accepted in a medical journal may improve if they cite popular authors, or their credibility may improve if they cite these authors. Prestige Bias is a problem as it reduces diversity of thought or opinion in scientific reports1; which may prevent true phenomena from being observed. Lack of diversity of thought may result in a lack of trust from the public in published research findings; seeding problems such as medical conspiracy theories or assumptions that academic institutions are elitist. This bias can be avoided by appraising science for what it is, based on its quality, regardless of who wrote it. Arguably in order to achieve this, scientists must train themselves in the differences between quality of reporting and quality of evidence2. Also see: Professional Esteem and Progress Bias, Money-Bags Bias, Hot Stuff Bias, One-Sided Reference Bias, and In-Group Bias.
References:
1. De Cruz, Helen (2018). Prestige Bias: An Obstacle to a Just Academic Philosophy. Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 5. (Link to Reference)
2. Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research. (Link to Reference)