Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-018-9741-6 The 100 Top-Cited Scientific Papers Focused on the Topic of Bacteriocins Hossein Jamali 1  · Kateryna Krylova 1  · Charles M. Dozois 1 Accepted: 24 July 2018 © Springer Nature B.V. 2018 Abstract Bacteriocins are antimicrobial compounds with targeted activities that are produced by a variety of bacterial species. Differ- ent aspects of bacteriocins were intensively studied and highlighted in previous research publications. Developments in this field are best demonstrated through analysis of the most cited scientific literature concerning bacteriocins. The objective of this report was to identify and establish main characteristics of the 100 top-cited papers presenting research on bacteriocins. Publications regarding bacteriocins between 1970 and 12th May 2017 were retrieved from the Web of Knowledge database of the Institute of Scientific Information. From this list, the top-cited 100 papers in the field of bacteriocins were established. The top-cited papers in this field were published from 1991 to 2013 and, as of this date, they have received from 85 to 1097 citations. The average citation rate of the 100 top-cited papers was 166.23 times (SD 136.87). The most common fields of study were microbiology (45%), biochemistry and molecular biology (35%), and biotechnology and applied microbiology (26%). Among the top-cited papers, 24 and 17 papers originated from the United States and Germany, respectively. Among these top-cited papers close to 80% concerned mainly bacteriocins from Gram-positive bacteria, whereas, only nine of the top-cited papers described bacteriocins of Gram-negative bacteria. Keywords Citation-classics · Bacteriocin · Bibliometric · Top-cited articles · Antimicrobial peptides Introduction Antibiotics were first introduced for the treatment of bacte- rial infections around 60 years ago (Adi et al. 2010). Over the years, the increased use of antibiotics worldwide in human and veterinary medicine, agriculture, pisciculture, and food production has led to the emergence of bacteria that are highly- or multi-resistant to antimicrobials. This is now considered to be a global epidemic of antimicrobial multi- resistance that has become a public health crisis worldwide (Igbinosa et al. 2016). By contrast, a low level of antimicro- bial resistance was reported among bacteria collected prior to the antibiotic era (Chauhan et al. 2013). The use of antibiotics as supplements in animal feeds or in pisciculture or agriculture to reduce the risk of certain diseases may have also led to increased emergence of anti- biotic resistance in pathogenic and potentially pathogenic bacteria (Jamali et al. 2013). Therefore, alternative strate- gies to contend with bacteria are critically needed to replace or permit decreased usage of antibiotics in order to reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Bacteriocins are one such alternative that are of potential interest. Numerous bacteria can synthesize compounds—bacteriocins—that are often peptides or small proteins that can kill other bacteria (Martinez et al. 2013). Bacteriocins were first studied and characterized in Gram-negative bacteria and were tested for applications in food safety (Lazdunski 1988). These products could be used as natural antimicrobial peptides in foods, and the application of bacteriocins could reduce risks for food safety and bacterial infections in humans and livestock. Over the past 25 years, different bacteriocins were studied and suggested as potential alternatives to reduce the use of antibiotics in human and animal health and food production and help avoid the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacte- ria (García et al. 2010). The potential impact and interest towards research centred on bacteriocins is reflected in sci- entific papers, especially in the most cited papers. Review- ing the top-cited papers can provide insights into the most * Charles M. Dozois charles.dozois@inrs.ca 1 INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, 531 Boul des Prairies, Laval, QC H7V 1B7, Canada