Using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) to analyze the research and publication culture in immunology

Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) is a method to reveal the historical roots and landmark papers of a research field based on cited references data. RPYS visualizes how frequently cited references occur in the cited reference lists of papers published in the research field. Previous RPYS studies revealed various historical aspects of the research and publication culture in various fields of study (e.g., economy and philosophy of science). Employing RPYS, we examine a dataset of citing publications in immunology. We identify and analyze 20 cited publications occurring very frequently in the cited reference lists of these citing papers. The 20 publications shed light on the epistemic culture and the development of the field of immunology. Whereas 65% of the publications were contributions to the theoretical and empirical understanding of immunology, 35% were contributions to methodology.