The fifty most cited publications in anxiety disorder research

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety disorders constitute a leading cause of disability worldwide. The purpose of this study is to identify and characterize the top 50 most frequently cited publications in the field of anxiety disorder research. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The Clarivate Analytics Web of Science citation indexing service was searched for articles published from 1900 and onward concerning anxiety disorders. After implementation of a two-step inclusion and exclusion criteria, the 50 mostly highly cited articles were analyzed according to the number of citations, publication year, first author, journal, country of origin, research institution, and topic. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The 50 most highly cited articles were published from the years 1953 to 2010 with the greatest number of articles being published during the 1990s decade. The number of citations ranged from 756 for the 50th most cited paper to 17,585 for the most cited paper. Journals with the most publications included Behavior Research and Therapy, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Science, and Journal of Psychosomatic Research. Article topics included diagnostic and screening tools research, basic and translational research, anxiety modeling, treatment, epidemiology, imaging, and other topics. CONCLUSIONS. This study identifies the top 50 most cited studies in the field of anxiety disorder research and recognizes the individuals who have made impactful changes that have shaped the modern approach of diagnosis, basic science knowledge, and the treatment of patients with anxiety disorders.