Johan Hjort's impact on fisheries science: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Abstract We analyse how Johan Hjort's publication, “Fluctuations in the great fisheries of northern Europe, viewed in the light of biological research” (Hjort, 1914), has been cited in the subsequent scientific literature. In the context of this special issue commemorating the 100th anniversary of Hjort's seminal publication, our objective is to provide insights into how his work has penetrated the literature and influenced the development of fishery science. We also tracked Hjort's related article, “Fluctuations in the year classes of important food fishes” (Hjort, 1926). We present the citation life cycles of these articles and analyse various characteristics of the publications that cite them. The importance of Hjort (1914) is reflected in the large number of citations that it has accrued (908), and by the 40–50 citations that it continues to receive every year. This is exceptional for a 100-year-old scientific article, in any field. Hjort (1926) initially received as many cites as Hjort (1914), but the latter subsequently became the paradigmatic article. Hjort (1914) has been cited in 162 different journals and by scientists in 53 countries—Hjort's work has had a broad and global impact on fisheries research. The contextual analysis demonstrated that Hjort (1914) is considered a seminal, novel, and paradigm setting study—the core research questions addressed by Hjort (1914) remain unsolved and several of his hypotheses continue to drive fisheries science to this day.