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A method for identifying the most influential articles in an academic discipline

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Abstract

This paper develops a methodology, based on citation counts, for classifying journal articles as highly-cited, pre-classic, classic and super-classic. In order to establish the benchmark measures necessary for such classification, a citation analysis was done of all main articles produced in the American Economic Review from 1965 through 1985. Using the established benchmarks, 127 articles published during the review period met the minimum criteria for at least highly-cited status. In addition, a subset of 17 articles were designated as either classic or super-classic. An additional 11 articles were on a yearly citation pace to become classics and were classified as pre-classic. A few of the characteristics of these papers are noted. Evidence from other studies is presented to support the methodology developed here.

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Authors
  1. Garey C. Durden
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  2. Larry V. Ellis
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Additional information

The authors are grateful to Tim Perri, Fred Wallace and David Laband for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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Durden, G.C., Ellis, L.V. A method for identifying the most influential articles in an academic discipline. Atlantic Economic Journal 21, 1–10 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02302324

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