Proving that a period of somewhat below-par performance during the late 1980s and early 90s was not indicative of things to come, the number of papers produced by Australian researchers has doubled over the last 20 years, from 10,000 papers in 1981 to over 20,000 in 2002. Leading this incredible achievement were 17 Australian researchers who were presented with Citation Laureate awards by Thomson ISI at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, March 24, 2004.
 
More than 250 attendees were present to celebrate the fact that across 20 leading disciplines during the 1998-2002 period, Thomson ISI data shows that Australia exceeded the world's impact in 12 fields, met the average in three fields and was slightly below average in five.
 
The 17 outstanding researchers—with work in fields ranging across the sciences to the social sciences and humanities, and include space scientists, pharmacologists, philosophers and economists—were selected on the basis of the number of times their research papers in a specific category have been cited by other researchers. Citations count the number of times a paper is referred to in a subsequent research paper by another author, and are one way of measuring the effectiveness of a research paper; this is also an objective way of measuring the impact of an individual. For these Australian researchers, the average number of citations has increased from 2.6 to 4.2 over the last 20 years.
 
To mark the significance of the contribution these researchers have made to scientific discovery worldwide, the honorable Brendan Nelson, minister of education, graciously agreed to deliver the keynote address.
 
According to Nancy Bayers, research services manager, Thomson ISI, 'hot' areas of Australian research are in geosciences and space sciences, where Australian researchers lead the fields averaging 30 and 60 percent more citations than the global average. "It is in these disciplines that papers by Australian authors are cited well above the international average rates," notes Bayers. "Between 1981 and 2002, citation impact for Australian authors in these fields has grown from an average of 2.6 cites to 4.2."
 
As one of the presenters Keith MacGregor, executive vice president for Academic & Government Markets at Thomson Scientific, observed that not only is scholarly excellence significant for Australian research but for the world of research itself. Said MacGregor: "from today's ideas come tomorrow's solutions so Australian researchers reaching a level of excellence is not only significant for Australia but also for the world."
 
Adam Klein, vice president and general manager, Asia-Pacific, Thomson Scientific acknowledged his enthusiasm to be a part of such a magnificent occasion to honor the 17 remarkable Australian researchers and their achievements. "These researchers were chosen based on the fact that their work was cited more than the work of their peers," noted Klein.
 
Announcing the honorees, Professor Vicki Sara, CEO of the Australian Research Institute, stated that "all 17 laureates have an outstanding record for producing papers that have been acknowledged by their peers as groundbreaking and influential."
 
In attendance at the NPC
Adjunct Professor Jan Anderson—Plant & Animal Science, ANU
Emeritus Professor John Caldwell—Demography, ANU
Professor Matthew Spriggs—Archaeology & Anthropology, ANU
Professor Frank Jackson—Philosophy, ANU
Professor Walter Giger—Ecology/Environment, Curtin University of Technology (now working in Switzerland)
Dr Bruce Peterson—Space Sciences, Mt Stromlo Observatory ANU
Dr Roger Powell—Geosciences, The University of Melbourne
Professor James Angus—Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne
Professor Gordon Parker—Psychology/Psychiatry, Prince of Wales Hospital
Professor John Quiggin—Economics, The University of Queensland
Professor David McKenzie—Materials Science, The University of Sydney
Professor Allan White—Chemistry, University of WA Professor Grant Sutherland—Molecular Biology & Genetics, Women and Children's Hospital and University of Adelaide Not attending the NPC
Professor Peter Hall—Mathematics, ANU
Emeritus Professor Bruce Stone—Agricultural Science, La Trobe University
Professor Robert Antonia—Engineering, University of Newcastle
Emeritus Professor Thomas Martin—Biology & Biochemistry, The University of Melbourne