Do citation chimeras exist? The case of under‐cited influential articles suffering delayed recognition

Abstract

In this study we investigate if articles suffering delayed recognition can at the same time be under-cited influential articles. Theoretically these two types of articles are independent, in the sense that suffering delayed recognition depends on the number and time distribution of received citations, while being an under-cited influential article depends only partially on the number of received (first generation) citations, and much more on second and third citation generations. Among 49 articles suffering delayed recognition we found 13 that are also under-cited influential. Based on a thorough investigation of these special cases we found that so-called authoritative citers play an important role in uniting the two different document types into a special citation chimera. Our investigation contributes to the classification of publications.

Do elite scientists play a key role in the genesis of transformative research of “sparking type”? An investigation in the science of science

“…Which factors contribute to the sparking phenomenon? In earlier studies, it was found that authoritative or elite citers could be involved Hu and Rousseau 2019). Inspired by these two studies, the following hypothesis is stated: Elite scientists are more prone to be involved in citing sparking work than ordinary scientists.…”