Highly cited articles in the Information Science and Library Science category in Social Science Citation Index: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyse the characteristics of highly cited articles published in the Information Science and Library Science category in the Social Science Citation Index. Articles that have been cited at least 100 times since publication up to the end of 2012 were analysed. We identified 501 highly cited articles published between 1956 and 2009 in 37 journals. MIS Quarterly published 26% of all analysed highly cited articles. The most productive researcher published 11 articles. Six bibliometric indicators were used to evaluate source institutions and countries. The 13 most productive institutions were all located in the USA and Canada. Harvard University in the USA was the most productive institution, ranked number one in the total number of highly cited articles, while the University of Maryland in the USA had the highest publication performance of first and corresponding author articles. Researchers from the USA contributed 67% of highly cited articles.