Citations Per Year (Now)
How many citations per year the paper received during a recent period, usually the past two or five years.
Version 1.0 · July 28, 2026
Transparent Article-Level Citation Metrics
Three plain-language metrics answer three questions: How many citations per year is a paper receiving now? How does now compare with its lifetime annual rate? How does now compare with a named annual benchmark?
These are descriptive tools. They make article-level citation claims easier to understand and reproduce, but they do not replace peer review, field-sensitive evaluation, or expert judgment.
One common starting point
All three metrics begin with citations per year. The first reports the annual rate itself. The other two compare that annual rate with another annual rate, so their results are ratios.
The Three Metrics
Citations Per Year (Now vs. Lifetime)
The paper’s recent annual citation rate compared with its own lifetime annual rate.
Citations Per Year (Now vs. Benchmark)
The paper’s recent annual citation rate compared with a clearly named external reference value, such as a two-year journal impact factor.
1. Citations Per Year (Now)
This is the paper’s recent annual citation rate. Choose a recent period, count the citations received during that period, and average them across the number of years.
Example: A paper received 25 citations during the past 5 years. That is 5 citations per year.
| Reported value | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0 citations per year | The paper received no citations during the stated recent period. |
| 1 citation per year | The paper received one citation per year on average during the stated period. |
| 5 citations per year | The paper received five citations per year on average; for example, 25 citations over 5 years. |
2. Citations Per Year (Now vs. Lifetime)
This compares the paper’s recent citations per year with its lifetime citations per year.
Example: A 10-year-old paper has 100 total citations, so its lifetime rate is 10 citations per year. It received 25 citations during the past 5 years, so its recent rate is 5 citations per year. The reported value is 0.50: the recent rate is half the lifetime rate.
| Reported value | What it means |
|---|---|
| Greater than 1.0 | The paper is being cited faster now than across its lifetime. |
| About 1.0 | The recent annual rate is similar to the paper’s lifetime annual rate. |
| Less than 1.0 | The paper is being cited more slowly now than across its lifetime. |
3. Citations Per Year (Now vs. Benchmark)
This compares the paper’s recent citations per year with a clearly named external reference value. The example below uses a two-year journal impact factor, which already represents an annual citation benchmark.
Example: The paper’s recent rate is 5 citations per year and the two-year journal impact factor is 3.0. The reported value is 1.67: the paper’s recent annual rate is about 67% above that benchmark.
| Reported value | What it means |
|---|---|
| Greater than 1.0 | The paper’s recent annual rate is above the stated benchmark. |
| About 1.0 | The paper’s recent annual rate is similar to the stated benchmark. |
| Less than 1.0 | The paper’s recent annual rate is below the stated benchmark. |
Always report the benchmark’s exact name, year, value, and source. The metric remains Citations Per Year (Now vs. Benchmark); the accompanying report identifies the benchmark used.
What to Report
- The citation source and the date checked.
- The recent period used, such as the past 2 or 5 years.
- Whether self-citations were included or excluded.
- The exact name, year, value, and source of any benchmark.
- Enough field, article-age, article-type, and database context to interpret the result responsibly.
Do not combine the three metrics into a single score or treat them as measures of research quality.
Manuscript Source
The supporting manuscript is under review. Please cite it as:
Grundy, F., & Grundy, J. G. (under review). Transparent Metrics for Article-Level Impact Using Citations Per Year: Now, Now vs. Lifetime, and Now vs. Benchmark.