Article from 1984 remains a hit: citation count passes 10,000
It was already the most cited publication ever written at our faculty, but now a new milestone has been reached. Last month, a paper by emeritus professor Jan Reedijk and his co-authors surpassed 10,000 citations — and the count keeps rising.
Not much happened in the first few years after the article was published, Reedijk recalls. ‘Since 1994, it started to be cited more often and gained international recognition. That strong increase continued until around 2015, after which things began to level off slightly. But in recent years, the paper is still being cited more than once a day on average.’ At the time, Reedijk co-authored the paper with a visiting professor, a postdoctoral researcher, staff member Gerrit Verschoor, and PhD candidate Koos van Rijn.
The numbers are tracked in the Web of Science databases. ‘And last month — more than forty years (!) after the paper first appeared — they reported that it had reached the magical number of 10,000 citations. Quite something for a chemistry article,’ says Reedijk with a smile. Despite being retired, he’s still often seen around the faculty. He regularly drops by to attend a lecture or catch up with former colleagues. ‘I live ten minutes away by bike, so it’s an easy trip.’
‘ It took some time before this idea caught on internationally, but since it was “discovered” in the 1990s, it’s become a standard approach.’
Striking numbers in context
To put the impressive numbers in perspective: highly cited chemistry papers typically end up with around 2,000 citations. Out of the more than 100,000 chemistry and materials science publications from 1984, only three have surpassed the 10,000 citation mark. And across the 11 million papers published in these fields since 1984, just 88 have ever reached that milestone, according to figures from Web of Science, compiled by CWTS (Centre for Science and Technology Studies).
But what is the paper actually about? Reedijk explains: ‘We describe a large group of structures in detail, using a single, simple parameter that allows them to be compared. It’s a very practical and useful way to describe the geometry — in this case, fivefold coordination around a metal — in a quantitative way using just that one parameter. It took some time before this idea caught on internationally, but since it was “discovered” in the 1990s, it’s become a standard approach.’
‘You don’t need to be published in Nature to have impact’
Interestingly, the publication didn’t appear in a major journal like Nature, but in the specialist journal of the Royal Chemical Society (UK). ‘You don’t need to publish in Nature or Science to make an impact,’ Reedijk says with a laugh. ‘That’s a good reminder for any researcher.’
Now aged 81, the professor isn’t sure what the final count will be. ‘My guess is it’ll keep ticking upwards for a few more years yet.’
Curious to read the article yourself?
Addison, A. W.; Rao, N. T.; Reedijk, J.; van Rijn, J.; Verschoor, G. C. (1984). "Synthesis, structure, and spectroscopic properties of copper(II) compounds containing nitrogen–sulphur donor ligands; the crystal and molecular structure of aqua[1,7-bis(N-methylbenzimidazol-2′-yl)-2,6-dithiaheptane]copper(II) perchlorate". J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. (7): 1349–1356. doi:10.1039/dt9840001349.