Garfield, E "Fast-Breaking Hot Papers" The Scientist 16[8]:10, Apr. 15, 2002

[Eugene Garfield]

The Scientist 16[8]:10, Apr. 15, 2002

COMMENTARY

Fast-Breaking Hot Papers

By Eugene Garfield

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In the April 1 issue,(1) I discussed new gratis features that are now
accessible from the Institute for Scientific Information: highly cited
authors at www.isihighlycited.com and the editorial sections of Essential
Science Indicators at www.in-cites.com,www.esi-topics.com, and
www.sciencewatch.com. As I wrote then, I founded ISI in 1954, but I am no
longer a shareholder, although I retain an office and the title of chairman
emeritus.

Essential Science Indicators and its editorial features such as
Fast-Breaking Papers (in www.esi-topics.com) represent an expansion of
similar past endeavors well known to long-time readers of Current Contents
or The Scientist. My essays, containing descriptions of these efforts,
appeared regularly in Current Contents.

These essays and all my other publications over a 45-year period can be
accessed free at www.eugenegarfield.org.

It was not obvious in the early days of ISI that the Science Citation Index
could be used to identify significant "current" research. Due to time lags
in publication and citation, it was generally assumed that this was not
possible because of a seemingly inherent lack of currency in citation data.
Among science journals, the average cited reference is about six years old
and somewhat less for life science journals.

What was overlooked, however, was the fact that, even just after World War
II, citation of significant breakthroughs usually was quite rapid. So it was
not a trivial discovery to recognize that analysis of citations to the
latest three months' literature could detect a small but significant group
of "hot papers," which soon blossomed into highly cited papers, new
specialty areas, research fronts, invisible colleges, and even journals.

Hot papers are regularly reported in ISI's bimonthly newsletter Science
Watch. Readers of The Scientist are familiar with our selective reporting on
these Hot Papers, which is undoubtedly one of our most popular features. The
format of these articles has evolved over time. In the early days, they
consisted of short commentaries by the papers' authors, giving their take on
why the papers were highly cited. It seems a truism, but the best way to get
featured in the 'Hot Papers' section is to publish a significant paper that
is quickly recognized as a breakthrough of one kind or another.

Today, Hot Papers are analyzed by journalists in consultation with the lead
authors, as in the mammalian clock piece by Karen Young Kreeger. Soon we'll
add another dimension to this section by featuring articles written by
scientists, who will bring you up to date on the research front involved. As
part of their preparation, I will be providing authors with a unique
perspective on the historio-bibliographic background of the topic. More
about that in a forthcoming issue.

Eugene Garfield (egarfield at the-scientist.com)is president and editor in
chief of The Scientist.

1. E. Garfield, "Highly cited authors," The Scientist, 16[7]:10, April 1,
2002.

The Scientist 16[8]:10, Apr. 15, 2002

When responding, please attach my original message
_______________________________________________________________________
Eugene Garfield, PhD.  email: garfield at codex.cis.upenn.edu
home page: www.eugenegarfield.org
Tel: 215-243-2205 Fax 215-387-1266
President, The Scientist LLC. www.the-scientist.com
Chairman Emeritus, ISI www.isinet.com
Past President, American Society for Information Science and Technology
(ASIS&T)  www.asis.org
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