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We define a Landmark Paper Index (LPI), calculate and analyze indices for all papers published in rheological journals (‘η-journals’) between 1990 and 2006. This paper offers some information about the criteria influencing the impact of publications on the (scientific) community. In opposite to the well known Impact Factor (journal sensitive) or the number of citations (article sensitive, publication year insensitive) the LPI helps to identify established and potential breakthrough contributions by considering the number of citations per year after publication, in a way which does not overestimate the few, highly cited, articles when performing averages. We discuss the effect of formal criteria on the LPI.

The Impact Factor of a journal is a quantitative way of assessing its worth and relevance to the academic community it serves. Many librarians see the ratio between Impact Factor and price as a suitable yardstick by which to measure the value of their collections. In addition, the research assessment exercises which, in many countries, are now being carried out on a more formal basis mean that authors submitting original research must publish it in a journal with the highest perceived worth possible in order to secure future funding, job promotions and peer recognition. It has been suspected [T. Opthof, Cardiovasc. Res. 33 (1997) 1; J. Stegmann, Nature 390 (1990) 550], however, that a particular author’s impact is not much related to the journals in which her/he publishes. As will be demonstrated in this letter, the impact of articles published in rheological journals is largely influenced by criteria such as length of article, number of authors, number of cited references.

We apply the Landmark Paper Index (LPI), calculate and analyze indices for all papers published in rheological journals (‘η-journals’) between 1991 and 2007. We discuss the effect of formal criteria on the LPI.