Most-Cited Research Articles, Top 'Hot Paper' Authors of 1995

Editor's Note: Each year since 1993, the newsletter Science Watch has identified the preceding year's hottest scientists and research papers. Based on citation records compiled by the Philadelphia-based Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), analysts prepared the rosters for 1995. For the last three years, Bert Vogelstein, a molecular biologist from Johns Hopkins University, has accumulated more "hot papers" in one year than any other researcher. Molecular biologist Kenneth Kinzler, Vogelstein's Hopkins colleague, joined him in the top slot in 1995. "Hot papers" are research articles that have received a substantially greater number of citations-in this case, referenced between November 1993 and December 1995-than other papers in similar disciplines. Science Watch's March/April 1996 article analyzing the rankings (7[2]:1, 1996) is reprinted here in part, with permission of the newsletter and ISI. For more information on the citation databases and papers discussed in the article, contact Christopher King, editor of Science Watch, at ISI, 3501 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104; (800) 523-1850, Ext. 1341. Fax: (215) 387-1266. E-mail: cking@isinet.com. If it's the annual Science Watch roundup of hot papers and scientists, it must be Bert Vogelstein. For the third consecutive year, the Johns Hopkins University molecular biologist and his colleagues have fielded the greatest number of highly cited reports, according to the latest update of ISI's Hot Papers Database. The list at right shows those researchers with at least seven hot papers in the file as of November-December 1995. Vogelstein, with more than 35,000 total citations to his work since 1981, now stands second only to Robert C. Gallo among the most-cited scientists of the last 15 years. But hot scientists are only half of the story here. Science Watch also analyzed the papers published in 1995 that immediately distinguished themselves by garnering impressive citation totals. The table below lists the 10 most-cited research papers of 1995. Leaping out from the pack are two reports that appeared together in Nature on the viral and immune-system dynamics of HIV infection: one from a team led by David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York; the other from a group led by X.P. Wei of the University of Alabama. These papers, finishing first and second for the year in total citations, both scored more than twice as many citations as the next paper on the list. Admittedly, the two papers enjoyed an ample head start in accumulating citations, having appeared in the second week of January. Nevertheless, no paper tracked by Science Watch has been cited more than 100 times in its first year of publication until these two, so this is a striking result. Among the hot scientists, some familiar names join Vogelstein in returning to the list after their appearances in last year's roundup (Science Watch, 6[2]:1, 1995). Vogelstein and his team fielded 13 papers; among the coauthors on each of these reports is Kenneth W. Kinzler, Vogelstein's Johns Hopkins colleague, who moves from his No. 3 placement last year into the top berth on the current list. Another Hopkins researcher, Ramon Parsons, contributed to seven of these 13 reports and wins a share of the No. 5 spot. Also returning from last year are three researchers from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.: James N. Ihle, Bruce A. Witthuhn, and Olli Silvennoinen. Their papers on signal transduction discuss Jak tyrosine kinases, among other topics. The list also features some new names, including two in the second and third positions: David Beach and Gregory J. Hannon of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y. Some of their hot papers on the cell-cycle regulatory proteins p21 and p16 were highlighted last summer (Science Watch, 6[7]:5; 8, 1995). Bruce A.J. Ponder of the University of Cambridge scored with seven hot papers, including investigations of mutations in the Ret proto-oncogene. And Michael Karin of the University of California, San Diego, also posted seven hot papers within the last two years, on the c-Jun activation domain and other aspects of cell signaling. Perhaps the most notable addition to the list is Paul M. Borsenberger of Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y. His seven hot papers concern photoconductivity in molecular solids. This work, which examines changes in the electrical properties of substances when they are exposed to light, has found commercial application in organic photoreceptors used in xerography. Other prospective applications include photovoltaic cells for solar energy and light-emitting diodes. Borsenberger is the sole representative from the physical sciences on this year's list. In fact, he is the only physical-science researcher to merit inclusion since Science Watch began this annual feature three years ago. As is customary, Science Watch decided to exclude review papers from this year-end tally in favor of discovery accounts. For the record, however, the distinction of 1995's most-cited review goes to C.J. Marshall of the Chester Beatty Laboratories, Institute of Cancer Research, London. Marshall's paper, "Specificity of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling: Transient versus sustained extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation" (Cell, 80:179-85, 1995), was cited 75 times in 1995, and 156 times through April 1996. BertVogelstein Kenneth W.Kinzler James N.Ihle Bruce A.Witthuhn PaulBorsenberger GregoryHannon MichaelKarin DavidBeach SCIENTISTS RANKED BY NUMBER OF HOT PAPERS RankNameInstitutionFieldHot Papers 1Kenneth W. KinzlerBert VogelsteinJohns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University Molecular BiologyMolecular Biology1313 2David BeachHoward Hughes Medical Institute,Cold Spring Harbor LaboratoryMolecular Biology11 3Gregory J. HannonCold Spring Harbor LaboratoryMolecular Biology10 4James N. IhleSt. Jude Children's Research HospitalSignal Transduction9 5Paul M. BorsenbergerMichael KarinRamon ParsonsBruce A.J. PonderOlli SilvennoinenBruce A. WitthuhnEastman Kodak Co.University of California, San DiegoJohns Hopkins UniversityUniversity of CambridgeSt. Jude Children's Research HospitalSt. Jude Children's Research HospitalMaterials ScienceSignal TransductionMolecular BiologyMolecular BiologySignal TransductionSignal Transduction777777 Source: ISI's Hot Papers Database, Nov./Dec. 1993-Nov./Dec. 1995 10 MOST-CITED RESEARCH PAPERS OF 1995 RankPaperCitations Through December 1995Citations Through April 1996 1 D.D. Ho et al., "Rapid turnover of plasma virions and CD4 lymphocytes in HIV-1 infection," Nature, 373:123-6, 1995. 126238 2 X.P. Wei et al., "Viral dynamics in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection," Nature, 373:117-22, 1995. 118224 3 D.D. Games et al., "Alzheimer-type neuropathology in transgenic mice overexpressing V717F ß-amyloid precursor protein," Nature, 373:523-7, 1995. 57 77 4 J. Dhein et al., "Autocrine T-cell suicide mediated by APO-1/(Fas/CD95)," Nature, 373:438-41, 1995. 55100 5 T. Brunner et al., "Cell-autonomous Fas (CD95)/Fas-ligand interaction mediates activation-induced apoptosis in T-cell hybridomas," Nature, 373:441-4, 1995. 4994 6 S.-T. Ju et al., "Fas(CD95)/FasL interactions required for programmed cell death after T-cell activation," Nature,373:444-8,1995. 4788 7 S.B. Parker et al., "p53-independent expression of p21Cip1 in muscle and other terminally differentiating cells," Science, 267:1024-7, 1995. 5677 8 O. Halevy et al., "Correlation of terminal cell cycle arrest of skeletal muscle with induction of p21 by MyoD," Science, 267:1018-21, 1995. 4071 9 F. Abe et al., "Observation of top quark production in pp collisions with the collider detector at Fermilab," Physical Review Letters, 74:2626-31, 1995. 3998 10 T. Miyashita, J.C. Reed, "Tumor suppressor p53 is a direct transcriptional activator of the human bax gene," Cell, 80:293-9, 1995. 3876 Source: ISI's Hot Papers Database, 1995

Most-Cited Research Articles, Top 'Hot Paper' Authors of 1995

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