Nicholas Bowman, professor of higher education and student affairs in the College of Education and a CSSI researcher affiliate, recently published a study examining which characteristics of academic journal articles were associated with being cited in other research articles.

Even though citation counts do not necessarily reflect article quality, they provide one measure of an article's impact and perceived importance and can influence promotion and tenure decisions for researchers. They also contribute to a university's reputation through the scholarly influence of its faculty and researchers.

Bowman found associations between citation counts and several article characteristics, including its cost to access, length, and title construction. 

Bowman analyzed characteristics of more than 17,000 articles published in 30 U.S. higher education journals between 2000 and 2024. 

“Two of the strongest results were that short articles and articles that did not have an abstract or summary received far fewer citations,” he says. “Our findings suggest that articles are more cited when they are free through open access or when more information about them is available.” 

What got more citations:

• Review articles, which summarize findings from previous studies on a particular topic: 41% more citations 
• Open-access articles: 24% more citations
• Longer articles (20 or more pages): 14% more citations
• Articles that explored popular topics like socioeconomic status (40% more), student engagement (38% more), and student success (31% more)  
• First authors from Association of American Universities member institutions: 14% more
• Titles that included a colon: 9% more

What got fewer citations:

• Short articles of fewer than 10 pages: 54% fewer citations
• Articles with an abstract of less than 125 words (10% fewer) or no abstract (35% fewer)
• Single-author articles: 19% fewer citations
• Articles with men as first authors compared to articles with women as first authors: 9% fewer citations
• Articles that explored topics such as policy, law, organization, or governance: 27% fewer citations

The study also found that patterns varied by journal ranking. For example, open access and the use of a colon in a title predicted higher citation counts only among higher-ranked journals.

While the findings do not indicate that certain article characteristics directly cause higher citation counts, Bowman says they offer practical takeaways for authors.

"Researchers who want to improve their citation counts can consider a number of strategies: Writing longer manuscripts and abstracts, writing a literature review article, examining popular topics, and collaborating with at least one co-author. In addition, using an attention-grabbing title, which often involves a colon, and publishing open access may also help if authors can afford the fees and find a desirable outlet."

Adding a colon to the title, Bowman says, may be related to communicating effectively.

“We thought we might find a positive result here, since titles with colons are often catchier, but this was a larger relationship than I had expected.”

The study, “Perhaps You Should Use a Colon: Predicting Citation Counts of U.S. Higher Education Journal Articles,” was published in The Journal of Higher Education. Co-authors include Sze Ling Hung, a graduate student in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa, and Teniell Trolian of the University at Albany, State University of New York.