We are pleased to announce the publication of our new article in the prestigious journal Scientometrics, which challenges a common assumption in research evaluation. The study argues that simply counting citations is not enough; instead, the source of citations is a critical factor in determining scientific influence.

By analyzing the citation networks of journals, we have shown that journals cited from more distant points in the scientific network tend to have a greater overall impact. The article demonstrates that incorporating this distance concept into existing metrics, such as the Journal Impact Factor (JIF), significantly improves their distinguishing power. Additionally, we introduce the new concept of the "long-range effect" (LRE), which measures a journal's reach across scientific disciplines.

The first author of the article, Kate Barnes, began working on this topic within our lab as a Fulbright visiting student researcher, with the support of Fulbright Hungary, and it is wonderful to see how her initial research has evolved into such a significant publication.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the entire author team for their excellent work: Kate Barnes, Bannour Ahmed, Levente Török, and Roland Molontay.

The full article is available here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-026-05586-1