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RSAA News of the Month: February 2005

Up There With The Best!

RSAA astronomers are well represented in 1000 most-cited papers list.

 

A list of the 1000 most cited astrophysics research papers has just been published, and ANU astronomers past and present are very well represented. Citations, the referencing of a paper in later papers, are one measure of the significance and usefulness of a research paper. The list was compiled by Dr Frazer Pearce of the University of Nottingham, UK. He used the digitized NASA Astrophysics Data System to compare the citations of some 500,000 papers dating from the 1950s.

The most-cited papers are a mix of reports of discoveries, controversial theories, new techniques, and large databases. RSAA is represented in all categories. Twenty-eight papers reporting research by ANU astronomers and students make it into the top 1000. Twelve are in the top 500, 3 in the top 100 and 2 in the top 50. A further 14 papers by ex-Stromlo students, reporting their research done at other observatories, also make it into the top 1000 list.

To see the list of top 1000 papers, click here.

Highest ranked of the RSAA papers is one by Prof Brian Schmidt and his international Hi-Z Supernova Search Team, "Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant". This came in at position 23 and is arguably one of the most significant research papers of all time, one which fundamentally changed our view of the universe. The rating of 23, which may seem low for such a historic paper, is due to the fact that it has only been in print for 6 years!

Other papers with RSAA authors come in at positions 47, 83, 137, 260, 279, 289, 290, 313, 368, 420, 448, 519, 613, 665, 726, 731, 743, 813, 839, 843, 885, 899, 902, 906, 973, 974 and 985. They include classic papers in galactic structure and dynamics, stellar evolution, interstellar polarization, and the structure and evolution of the Universe. Ten of the authors are current RSAA staff members.

The number of astronomers and students at the RSAA is usually around 50, less than 0.3% of the world's astronomers. Contributing 2.7% of the top 1000 papers, 9 times better than the average citation rate, is a credit to the hard work and talent of the exceptional staff at RSAA.

For previous Monthly News items, click here.