PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University ranked 24th in the world over the last decade in terms of citation impact in the field of agricultural science, according to the latest issue of Science Watch newsletter, which tracks trends and performance in basic research.
Citation impact is defined as citations per paper and is a measure of the importance of the science conducted at an institution, as measured by its impact on the research conducted by others.
During the same period, Barry Swanson, a food scientist at Washington State University, was the world’s 22nd most cited author in agricultural sciences, according to the newsletter.
“This data illustrates the world-class research conducted by WSU faculty such as Barry Swanson and its impact around the globe,” said James Petersen, vice provost of research at Washington State University.
“Seminal research conducted at WSU changes the direction of science and improves lives of individuals around the world. This information illustrates that WSU truly is one of the world’s great land-grant research universities.” WSU was the 13th highest ranked U.S. university on the Science Watch top 25 list, which includes universities and national research agencies in Finland, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Spain, France, Australia and the United States.
Eighty-three of Swanson’s papers were cited 919 times between 1996 and 2006. The figures are based on papers published in 118 journals of agricultural science indexed by Thomson Scientific.
“The quality of Dr. Swanson’s scholarship in advancing the discipline of food science is evident in his ranking,” said Ralph Cavalieri, associate dean and director of WSU’s Agricultural Research Center.
Swanson is best known for his work in the control of microbial contaminants in food, fat substitutes and vegetable processing. He joined the WSU faculty in 1973, and during his career, he has received numerous awards and honors, including twice being named Nally’s Fine Foods outstanding researcher of the year.
In 2002, Swanson was elected a fellow in the Society for Food Science and Technology, Institute of Food Technologists. He currently serves as editor of the Journal of Food Procession and Preservation.
“It’s very humbling,” Swanson said. “It’s recognition of a career’s work. I have been at WSU for 33 years and have advised about 25 doctoral students and close to 50 master’s students. Most of the publications and research citations are due to their good work.”
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