Excessive citation of a scientific article may not be a commendation, but rather a condemnation. An example is to be found in your "Hot Papers" section of the December 12, 1988, issue of The Scientist (page 13). The article by Guo, Langlois, and Goddard has been roundly criticized. Perhaps this accounts for the extensive citation. This phenomenon should be a well-recognized limitation of citation indexes.
JAMES P. COLLMAN
Professor of Chemistry
Stanford University
Stanford, Calif. 94305
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