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Concentration of the Most-Cited Papers in the Scientific Literature: Analysis of Journal Ecosystems

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  • John P A Ioannidis

Abstract

Background: A minority of scientific journals publishes the majority of scientific papers and receives the majority of citations. The extent of concentration of the most influential articles is less well known. Methods/Principal Findings: The 100 most-cited papers in the last decade in each of 21 scientific fields were analyzed; fields were considered as ecosystems and their “species” (journal) diversity was evaluated. Only 9% of journals in Journal Citation Reports had published at least one such paper. Among this 9%, half of them had published only one such paper. The number of journals that had published a larger number of most-cited papers decreased exponentially according to a Lotka law. Except for three scientific fields, six journals accounted for 53 to 94 of the 100 most-cited papers in their field. With increasing average number of citations per paper (citation density) in a scientific field, concentration of the most-cited papers in a few journals became even more prominent (p

Suggested Citation

  • John P A Ioannidis, 2006. "Concentration of the Most-Cited Papers in the Scientific Literature: Analysis of Journal Ecosystems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 1(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0000005
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000005
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