Do cover papers have higher disruption and citations? Evidence from Nature and Science

Xinru Yang, Xueli Liu (), Zixuan Zhang, Mengjuan Xi and Yuyan Jiang
Additional contact information
Xinru Yang: Henan Medical University, School of Health Management
Xueli Liu: Henan Medical University, School of Health Management
Zixuan Zhang: Henan Medical University, School of Health Management
Mengjuan Xi: Henan Medical University, School of Health Management
Yuyan Jiang: Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Scientometrics, 2025, vol. 130, issue 11, No 31, 6727-6746

Abstract: Abstract In the digital era of academic communication, journal cover papers that merge scientific achievements with visual communication have attracted significant attention. This study investigated whether papers selected for journal covers have more disruption and citations than non-cover papers. Focusing on papers in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2019, this research integrates the disruption index into cover paper evaluation for the first time. The study mainly employs ordinary least squares regression, quantile regression and a series of robustness tests to empirically estimate the impact of cover papers on disruption and citations. The results show that cover papers have significantly higher citations than non-cover papers, but demonstrate no significant direct association with disruption on average. However, quantile and heterogeneity analyses reveal that its relationship with both disruption and citation varies with papers’ inherent quality. Furthermore, we find that cover selection is significantly linked to hot paper status, but their interaction shows no significant additional effect on disruption across quantiles. These findings inform journal curation strategies and scientific evaluation systems by delineating the distinct associations of cover placement with a paper’s citation impact versus its disruptive level.

Keywords: Cover paper; Disruption index; Quantile regression; Scientific innovation; Citations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-025-05486-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:scient:v:130:y:2025:i:11:d:10.1007_s11192-025-05486-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-025-05486-w

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().