Which articles and which topics in the forensic sciences are most highly cited?

Area of Science:

• Forensic science, a multidisciplinary field integrating pure, applied, and biomedical sciences.
• Research assessment through citation analysis is a key metric for scientific impact.

Background:

• Publishing research findings enhances the reputation of investigators and institutions.
• Citation counts are widely accepted as a measure of scientific distinction and impact.
• The Journal of Forensic Sciences (JFS) is a significant publication in the field.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and rank the most highly cited articles published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences (JFS) between 1956 and 2005.
• To analyze these influential papers based on author, subject category, country of origin, and co-authorship patterns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Web-of-Science (Science Citation Index) to track citation records of JFS articles.
• Identified articles with 50 or more citations and ranked them by total citations.
• Evaluated articles by first author, subject category, country, and co-authorship.

Main Results:

• Located 46 articles cited between 50 and 292 times.
• The most cited paper involved DNA profiling and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
• Toxicology (15 articles) and criminalistics (14 articles) were the most represented subject categories.
• The majority of highly cited papers originated from US laboratories.

Conclusions:

• Citation analysis effectively identifies seminal works in forensic science.
• DNA profiling and PCR applications represent a highly impactful area within forensic research.
• The study highlights key contributors and subject areas driving advancements in forensic science.