This study aims to reveal the potential peer-review function of review articles, thereby deepening the understanding of their role in scholarly communication and research evaluation.
The study first reviewed the literature on citation behaviors of review articles, with particular attention to their tendency of “selective citation”. It then drawed on the Web of Science database, selecting 40436 papers published between 2000 and 2002 in three fields—Astronomy & Astrophysics, Computer Science Theory & Methods, and Critical Care Medicine. Key variables, including frequency of review citations and the timing of first and last review citations, were constructed, alongside multiple control factors. Negative binomial regression models were employed to examine the relationship between review citation characteristics and academic impact.
The results show that papers cited by reviews received significantly more citations overall. Moreover, higher review citation frequency, earlier first review citation, and longer citation duration were all positively associated with stronger academic performance. These findings suggest that review citations not only embody the integrative role of reviews but also function as a form of implicit quality filtering, offering a novel perspective for developing diversified research evaluation indicators.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |