Every summer, the editors of the Archives of Toxicology analyse their most cited articles from the previous 2 years. Topping this year’s list as the most cited original article is the pharmacokinetic and biodistribution study on silica nanoparticles (Xie et al. 2010). This study demonstrates that silica nanoparticles are retained for more than 30 days in various organs of mice (Table 1). The high interest and citation rates of this systematic biodistribution study illustrate the importance and relevance of nanoparticles to the field of toxicology today. The second most cited original article is the study by Drobná et al. (2010) on the metabolism and transport of inorganic arsenic. The high interest generated by the results of this study is not surprising. Arsenic poisoning, as a result of drinking water from contaminated wells, represents one of the largest man-made catastrophes in recent history (Golka et al. 2010). A study on the mechanism of action of silver nanoparticles ranks third in this citation analysis (Table 1).

Table 1 Key messages of the most cited articles in Arch Toxicol (2010–2011)
Full size table

In addition to original work, review articles were also included into our analysis. In the last 2 years, the most cited review, and coincidentally the most cited article, proposed a systems biology concept of an autocatalytic generation of oxidative stress, which is intensified by positive feedback loops and plays a central role in several degenerative diseases and toxic insults (Kell 2010). Following the review of Kell et al. is a comprehensive summary of the mechanisms of action and toxicological relevance of the mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol, also named ‘vomitoxin’ (Pestka 2010). The review of Adler et al. (2011) on in vitro systems ranks third, illustrating that the development of alternative methods currently represents a cutting-edge topic in toxicology.

The present citation analysis does not, by any means, represent a ranking of the scientific quality of our articles. However, it identifies the fields of research that attract the most attention and, therefore, may be a sensitive indicator of how our discipline could evolve in the future.