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A comparison of citation classics in three fields of science

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Abstract

A sample of “Citation Classics” in three scientific fields was studied to uncover citing motivations. The classics were classified into basic research, methods and reviews. Number of citations received per classic, number of authors, and age of classic per category and scientific field were the parameters studied. Journals and countries accounting for the highest incidence of classics were examined. A striking parallelism was found in the parameters applied to the categories in the scientific fields studied. This parallelism suggests similar citing habits of scientists in the fields studied which should be reflected in the structures of science obtained through citation grounded bibliometric models.

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Méndez, A., Gómez, I. A comparison of citation classics in three fields of science. Scientometrics 15, 621–631 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017074

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