{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T08:37:16Z","timestamp":1777365436097,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2007,3,22]],"date-time":"2007-03-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1174521600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":10429,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1978,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>This article describes a study to ascertain the reasons why certain old papers are still highly cited many years after their publication. Twenty\u2010three old papers in the subject fields of physics and physical chemistry which are still highly cited were selected, and 978 of the papers that cited them in the period 1974\u20131975 were studied. A new typology of reasons for citing the papers was devised, and using this typology, it was found that about 40% of the citations were for historical reasons, but that in the remaining 60% of the cases, the old paper is still begin actively used. We discuss some discrepancies between our citation figures and citation figures quoted by Garfield. We also discuss a number of errors which were found, both in citing articles and in <jats:italic>Science Citation Index<\/jats:italic>. Finally, calculations indicate that there is a rule that each cited paper is referred to, on average, 1.05\u20101.15 times in every paper that cites it, and that this rule has general validity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.4630290504","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2007,6,28]],"date-time":"2007-06-28T05:16:25Z","timestamp":1183007785000},"page":"225-231","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":115,"title":["Highly cited old papers and the reasons why they continue to be cited"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"29","author":[{"given":"Charles","family":"Oppenheim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Susan P.","family":"Renn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2007,3,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_2","first-page":"299","article-title":"Citation practices","volume":"24","author":"Cawkell A. E.","year":"1968","journal-title":"Journal of Documentation."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/030631277500500403"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_2","first-page":"16","article-title":"Citation indexes","volume":"5","author":"Weinstock M.","year":"1971","journal-title":"Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/030631277500500106"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.5090160207"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_2","first-page":"345","article-title":"Science citation distribution and obsolescence","volume":"15","author":"Avramescu A.","year":"1973","journal-title":"Studii Si Cercetari de Documentare."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_2","first-page":"5","article-title":"The 'obliteration phenomenon' in science and the advantage of being obliterated","volume":"52","author":"Garfield E.","year":"1975","journal-title":"Current Contents."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0048-7333(73)90006-1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_2","unstructured":"Garfield E.See ref. 7 p.7."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/eb026615"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_2","unstructured":"Garfield E.\u201cHighly cited articles XXVI. Some classic papers of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.\u201dCurrent Contents. No. 21:5\u20139;1976."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1364\/AO.13.002751"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_2","unstructured":"Garfield has commented on this problem. SeeGarfield E.\u201cWhat's in a name? If it's a journal's name sometimes there's too much\u201dCurrent Contents. No. 4\u20106:5\u20138;1975."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_2","first-page":"169","volume-title":"The Foundations of Access to Knowledge","author":"Lipetz B. A.","year":"1968"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_2","unstructured":"Chubin D. E.See ref. 2 p.427."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_2","unstructured":"At the moment we know of two such papers by Garfield i.e. ref. 11 andGarfield E.\u201cCitation classics II. Articles from the life sciences 1930\u20101939.\u201dCurrent Contents. No. 43:5\u201310;1976 but we expect more papers in this series to appear in the near future."}],"container-title":["Journal of the American Society for Information Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/api.wiley.com\/onlinelibrary\/tdm\/v1\/articles\/10.1002%2Fasi.4630290504","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/asi.4630290504","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T17:12:37Z","timestamp":1759943557000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/asi.4630290504"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1978,9]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1978,9]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1002\/asi.4630290504"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/asi.4630290504","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0002-8231","1097-4571"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0002-8231","type":"print"},{"value":"1097-4571","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1978,9]]}}}