On the heuristic value of scientific publications and their design; A citation analysis of some clinical trials

The assumption underlying citation analysis is that the citing authors select their references in a rational manner. The present study, based on a very homogeneous collection of clinical trials from a meta-analysis, provides a partial verification of this idea: citing authors prefer large studies to smaller ones, they also seem to prefer studies representing the minority view of the research issue, perhaps in order to make their presentation more balanced. On the other hand, in this instance the inclusion of a placebo in the study design does not affect citation frequency. Furthermore, the conjecture that heuristic value is a main determinant of citability is not settled.