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Do Research Topics and Abstract Readability Affect Citation Impact in Leading Finance Journals?

Zhengzhao Luo & Yiuman Tse

Applied Finance Letters2025https://doi.org/10.24135/afl.v14i.1059article
ABDC B
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This study examines how research topics and abstract readability influence citation impact in finance journals. Using BERTopic modeling on over 7,000 abstracts from 13 top-tier journals, we identify four core themes—financial markets, banking & credit, corporate finance, and insurance & actuarial science—along with one interdisciplinary topic. Our results show that topic choice significantly affects citations: corporate finance attracts the highest average citations, whereas insurance & actuarial science receives the fewest. Interdisciplinary research has emerged as a major trend over the past decade. Abstract readability, measured by textual analysis, is also a key determinant: clearer abstracts are associated with higher citation counts. Page length, co-authorship, and journal impact factors further enhance citations. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of topic selection and highly readable abstracts in maximizing research visibility.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24135/afl.v14i.1059

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@article{zhengzhao2025,
  title        = {{Do Research Topics and Abstract Readability Affect Citation Impact in Leading Finance Journals?}},
  author       = {Zhengzhao Luo & Yiuman Tse},
  journal      = {Applied Finance Letters},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24135/afl.v14i.1059},
}

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Do Research Topics and Abstract Readability Affect Citation Impact in Leading Finance Journals?

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.