---
title: "Most-cited research papers of 2021"
description: "The most-cited paper the tracked journals published in 2021 is “How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines” (Journal of Business Research), with 14,276 citations. In finance, the most-cited was “Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance” (Journal of Corporate Finance), with 2,878 citations."
url: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2021
markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2021.md
license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
share_text: "The most-cited paper the tracked journals published in 2021 is “How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines” (Journal of Business Research), with 14,276 citations. (as of 2026-10-29)"
data_url: https://scholar4ai.com/data/rankings.json
updated: 2026-10-29T12:01:33+09:00
window: 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-29
source: OpenAlex (CC0)
---

# Most-cited papers published in 2021

Papers the tracked finance, accounting, economics, management, marketing, information systems, tourism and hospitality, operations research and AI journals published in 2021, ranked by the citations OpenAlex counts for them so far. Citation counts are the ones OpenAlex reports, read again every day for the last year's papers, every week for the two years before and every month for older ones.

Most-cited papers: [Past three years](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited.md) · [Since October 2016](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/since-2016.md) · [2025](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2025.md) · [2024](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2024.md) · [2023](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2023.md) · [2022](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2022.md) · 2021 · [2020](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2020.md) · [2019](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2019.md) · [2018](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2018.md) · [2017](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2017.md)

## Key findings

- The most-cited paper the tracked journals published in 2021 is “How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines” (Journal of Business Research), with 14,276 citations.
- In finance, the most-cited was “Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance” (Journal of Corporate Finance), with 2,878 citations.
- In accounting, the most-cited was “Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review” (Review of Accounting Studies), with 1,908 citations.
- In economics, the most-cited was “Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing” (Journal of Econometrics), with 8,014 citations.
- In management, the most-cited was “How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines” (Journal of Business Research), with 14,276 citations.
- In marketing, the most-cited was “Understanding anthropomorphism in service provision: a meta-analysis of physical robots, chatbots, and other AI” (Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science), with 1,192 citations.
- In information systems, the most-cited was “Machine learning and deep learning” (Electronic Markets), with 2,957 citations.
- In tourism and hospitality, the most-cited was “Understanding and managing the threat of common method bias: Detection, prevention and control” (Tourism Management), with 1,687 citations.
- In operations research, the most-cited was “Aquila Optimizer: A novel meta-heuristic optimization algorithm” (Computers & Industrial Engineering), with 2,224 citations.
- In AI, the most-cited was “Review of deep learning: concepts, CNN architectures, challenges, applications, future directions” (Journal Of Big Data), with 7,886 citations.

## All journals

*The 25 most-cited papers published in 2021, all tracked journals*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14,276 | 217.9 | [How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-05-14 | Naveen Donthu, Satish Kumar, Debmalya Mukherjee et al. |
| 2 | 8,014 | 124.1 | [Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2021.03.014) | [Journal of Econometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-econometrics.md) | 2021-06-12 | Andrew Goodman-Bacon |
| 3 | 7,886 | 117.8 | [Review of deep learning: concepts, CNN architectures, challenges, applications, future directions](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40537-021-00444-8) | [Journal Of Big Data](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-big-data.md) | 2021-03-31 | Laith Alzubaidi, Jinglan Zhang, Amjad J. Humaidi et al. |
| 4 | 5,262 | 81.4 | [A Survey of Convolutional Neural Networks: Analysis, Applications, and Prospects](https://doi.org/10.1109/tnnls.2021.3084827) | [IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-neural-networks-and-learning-systems.md) | 2021-06-10 | Zewen Li, Fan Liu, Wenjie Yang et al. |
| 5 | 3,925 | 58.4 | [Knowledge Distillation: A Survey](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11263-021-01453-z) | [International Journal of Computer Vision](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-computer-vision.md) | 2021-03-22 | Jianping Gou, Baosheng Yu, Stephen J. Maybank et al. |
| 6 | 3,794 | 54.3 | [Image Segmentation Using Deep Learning: A Survey](https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2021.3059968) | [IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-pattern-analysis-and-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-01-01 | Shervin Minaee, Yuri Y. Boykov, Fatih Porikli et al. |
| 7 | 3,636 | 54.0 | [Learning nonlinear operators via DeepONet based on the universal approximation theorem of operators](https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-021-00302-5) | [Nature Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/nature-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-03-18 | Lu Lu, Pengzhan Jin, Guofei Pang et al. |
| 8 | 3,239 | 50.3 | [Temporal Fusion Transformers for interpretable multi-horizon time series forecasting](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2021.03.012) | [International Journal of Forecasting](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-forecasting.md) | 2021-06-16 | Bryan Y. Lim, Sercan Ö. Arık, Nicolas Loeff et al. |
| 9 | 2,957 | 44.3 | [Machine learning and deep learning](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-021-00475-2) | [Electronic Markets](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/electronic-markets.md) | 2021-04-08 | Christian Janiesch, Patrick Zschech, Kai Heinrich |
| 10 | 2,940 | 44.5 | [A Survey on Knowledge Graphs: Representation, Acquisition, and Applications](https://doi.org/10.1109/tnnls.2021.3070843) | [IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-neural-networks-and-learning-systems.md) | 2021-04-26 | Shaoxiong Ji, Shirui Pan, Erik Cambria et al. |
| 11 | 2,904 | 43.4 | [A Survey on Multi-Task Learning](https://doi.org/10.1109/tkde.2021.3070203) | [IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-knowledge-and-data-engineering.md) | 2021-03-31 | Yu Zhang, Qiang Yang |
| 12 | 2,878 | 41.8 | [Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101889) | [Journal of Corporate Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-corporate-finance.md) | 2021-01-30 | Stuart Gillan, Andrew Koch, Laura T. Starks |
| 13 | 2,769 | 42.5 | [A review of uncertainty quantification in deep learning: Techniques, applications and challenges](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2021.05.008) | [Information Fusion](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/information-fusion.md) | 2021-05-23 | Moloud Abdar, Farhad Pourpanah, Sadiq Hussain et al. |
| 14 | 2,629 | 38.2 | [Corporate green bonds](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.01.010) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-01-31 | Caroline Flammer |
| 15 | 2,485 | 39.7 | [CB-SEM vs PLS-SEM methods for research in social sciences and technology forecasting](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121092) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2021-08-09 | Ganesh Dash, Justin Paul |
| 16 | 2,325 | 36.5 | [ProtTrans: Toward Understanding the Language of Life Through Self-Supervised Learning](https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2021.3095381) | [IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-pattern-analysis-and-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-07-07 | Ahmed Elnaggar, Michael Heinzinger, Christian Dallago et al. |
| 17 | 2,302 | 33.3 | [Deep Learning for Person Re-Identification: A Survey and Outlook](https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2021.3054775) | [IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-pattern-analysis-and-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-01-26 | Mang Ye, Jianbing Shen, Gaojie Lin et al. |
| 18 | 2,248 | 32.7 | [Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA): Guidelines for research practice in Information Systems and marketing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102310) | [International Journal of Information Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-information-management.md) | 2021-02-06 | Ilias O. Pappas, Arch George Woodside |
| 19 | 2,224 | 33.1 | [Aquila Optimizer: A novel meta-heuristic optimization algorithm](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2021.107250) | [Computers & Industrial Engineering](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/computers-industrial-engineering.md) | 2021-03-23 | Laith Abualigah, Dalia Yousri, Mohamed Abd Elaziz et al. |
| 20 | 2,167 | 36.7 | [Tabular data: Deep learning is not all you need](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2021.11.011) | [Information Fusion](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/information-fusion.md) | 2021-11-26 | Ravid Shwartz-Ziv, Amitai Armon |
| 21 | 1,908 | 30.3 | [Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-021-09609-5) | [Review of Accounting Studies](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/review-of-accounting-studies.md) | 2021-07-29 | Hans Bonde Christensen, Luzi Hail, Christian Leuz |
| 22 | 1,899 | 27.4 | [A survey on federated learning](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2021.106775) | [Knowledge-Based Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/knowledge-based-systems.md) | 2021-01-21 | Chen Bo Calvin Zhang, Yu Xie, Hang Bai et al. |
| 23 | 1,858 | 30.1 | [FairMOT: On the Fairness of Detection and Re-identification in Multiple Object Tracking](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11263-021-01513-4) | [International Journal of Computer Vision](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-computer-vision.md) | 2021-09-03 | Yifu Zhang, Chunyu Wang, Xinggang Wang et al. |
| 24 | 1,846 | 26.4 | [Self-supervised Learning: Generative or Contrastive](https://doi.org/10.1109/tkde.2021.3090866) | [IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-knowledge-and-data-engineering.md) | 2021-01-01 | Xiao Liu, Fanjin Zhang, Zhenyu Hou et al. |
| 25 | 1,827 | 26.9 | [Aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty in machine learning: an introduction to concepts and methods](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10994-021-05946-3) | [Machine Learning](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/machine-learning.md) | 2021-03-01 | Eyke Hüllermeier, Willem Waegeman |

## Finance

*Most-cited finance papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,878 | 41.8 | [Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101889) | [Journal of Corporate Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-corporate-finance.md) | 2021-01-30 | Stuart Gillan, Andrew Koch, Laura T. Starks |
| 2 | 2,629 | 38.2 | [Corporate green bonds](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.01.010) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-01-31 | Caroline Flammer |
| 3 | 1,341 | 21.9 | [Sustainable investing with ESG rating uncertainty](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.09.009) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-09-17 | Doron Avramov, Si Cheng, Abraham Lioui et al. |
| 4 | 723 | 11.7 | [Artificial intelligence and machine learning in finance: Identifying foundations, themes, and research clusters from bibliometric analysis](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2021.100577) | [Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-behavioral-and-experimental-finance.md) | 2021-08-31 | John W. Goodell, Satish Kumar, Weng Marc Lim et al. |
| 5 | 707 | 11.3 | [What do you think about climate finance?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.08.004) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-08-08 | Johannes Stroebel, Jeffrey A. Wurgler |
| 6 | 656 | 10.1 | [Consumer-lending discrimination in the FinTech Era](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.05.047) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-05-28 | Robert P. Bartlett, Adair Morse, Richard Stanton et al. |
| 7 | 629 | 10.8 | [Who is financing corporate green innovation?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2021.12.011) | [International Review of Economics & Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-review-of-economics-finance.md) | 2021-12-16 | Xiaojian Xiang, Chuanjiang Liu, Mian Yang |
| 8 | 624 | 9.7 | [Real effects of climate policy: Financial constraints and spillovers](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.06.015) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-06-23 | Söhnke M. Bartram, Kewei Hou, Sehoon Kim |
| 9 | 613 | 9.4 | [The Big Three and corporate carbon emissions around the world](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.05.007) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2021-05-24 | José Azar, Miguel Duro, Igor Kadach et al. |
| 10 | 605 | 9.0 | [The role of green finance in reducing CO2 emissions: An empirical analysis](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bir.2021.03.002) | [Borsa Istanbul Review](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/borsa-istanbul-review.md) | 2021-03-23 | Muhammad Saeed Meo, Mohd Zaini Abd Karim |

## Accounting

*Most-cited accounting papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,908 | 30.3 | [Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-021-09609-5) | [Review of Accounting Studies](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/review-of-accounting-studies.md) | 2021-07-29 | Hans Bonde Christensen, Luzi Hail, Christian Leuz |
| 2 | 430 | 6.4 | [Connecting the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and calls for ‘harmonisation’ of sustainability reporting](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2021.102309) | [Critical Perspectives on Accounting](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/critical-perspectives-on-accounting.md) | 2021-03-23 | Carol A. Adams, Subhash Asanga Abhayawansa |
| 3 | 424 | 6.8 | [The impact of carbon disclosure mandates on emissions and financial operating performance](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-021-09611-x) | [Review of Accounting Studies](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/review-of-accounting-studies.md) | 2021-08-05 | Benedikt Downar, Jürgen Ernstberger, Stefan J. Reichelstein et al. |
| 4 | 405 | 6.6 | [Stock market reactions to adverse ESG disclosure via media channels](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2021.101045) | [The British Accounting Review](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/the-british-accounting-review.md) | 2021-09-14 | Jin Boon Wong, Qin Zhang |
| 5 | 261 | 3.7 | [Corporate governance and sustainability: a review of the existing literature](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-020-09554-6) | [Journal of Management & Governance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-management-governance.md) | 2021-01-03 | Valeria Naciti, Fabrizio Césaroni, Luisa Pulejo |
| 6 | 220 | 3.4 | [Does corporate eco-innovation affect stock price crash risk?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2021.101031) | [The British Accounting Review](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/the-british-accounting-review.md) | 2021-06-24 | Rashid Zaman, Nader Atawnah, Muhammad Haseeb et al. |
| 7 | 216 | 3.2 | [The impact of climate risk on earnings management: International evidence](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2021.106818) | [Journal of Accounting and Public Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-accounting-and-public-policy.md) | 2021-02-23 | Rong Ding, Mingzhi Liu, Tingting Wang et al. |
| 8 | 196 | 2.8 | [The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Information in Supply-Chain Contracting: Evidence from the Expansion of CSR Rating Coverage](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2022.101525) | [Journal of Accounting and Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-accounting-and-economics.md) | 2021-01-01 | Alper Darendeli, Peter Fiechter, Jörg-Markus Hitz et al. |
| 9 | 184 | 2.7 | [Gone with the wind: An externality of earnings pressure](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2021.101403) | [Journal of Accounting and Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-accounting-and-economics.md) | 2021-03-18 | Zheng Liu, Hongtao Shen, Michael Welker et al. |
| 10 | 168 | 2.5 | [The influence of board composition on environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure of Thai listed companies](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41310-021-00120-6) | [International Journal of Disclosure and Governance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-disclosure-and-governance.md) | 2021-03-24 | Muttanachai Suttipun |

## Economics

*Most-cited economics papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8,014 | 124.1 | [Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2021.03.014) | [Journal of Econometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-econometrics.md) | 2021-06-12 | Andrew Goodman-Bacon |
| 2 | 3,239 | 50.3 | [Temporal Fusion Transformers for interpretable multi-horizon time series forecasting](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2021.03.012) | [International Journal of Forecasting](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-forecasting.md) | 2021-06-16 | Bryan Y. Lim, Sercan Ö. Arık, Nicolas Loeff et al. |
| 3 | 1,239 | 18.6 | [Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112255) | [Energy Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-policy.md) | 2021-04-08 | Chin‐Hsien Yu, Xiuqin Wu, Dayong Zhang et al. |
| 4 | 1,189 | 17.7 | [Environmental regulation, green technology innovation, and industrial structure upgrading: The road to the green transformation of Chinese cities](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105247) | [Energy Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-economics.md) | 2021-03-26 | Kerui Du, Yuanyuan Cheng, Xin Yao |
| 5 | 933 | 13.8 | [Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105220) | [Energy Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-economics.md) | 2021-03-18 | Siyu Ren, Yu Hao, Lu Xu et al. |
| 6 | 873 | 13.2 | [Heterogeneous green innovations and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105269) | [Energy Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-economics.md) | 2021-04-28 | Le Emily Xu, Meiting Fan, Lili Yang et al. |
| 7 | 858 | 12.4 | [Adaptation interventions and their effect on vulnerability in developing countries: Help, hindrance or irrelevance?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105383) | [World Development](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/world-development.md) | 2021-01-22 | Siri Eriksen, E. Lisa F. Schipper, Morgan Scoville-Simonds et al. |
| 8 | 790 | 11.4 | [Can the green credit policy stimulate green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105134) | [Energy Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-economics.md) | 2021-01-24 | Guoqiang Hu, Xiaoqi Wang, Yu Wang |
| 9 | 785 | 11.7 | [Public spending and green economic growth in BRI region: Mediating role of green finance](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112256) | [Energy Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-policy.md) | 2021-03-31 | Dongyang Zhang, Muhammad Mohsin, Abdul Khaliq Rasheed et al. |
| 10 | 773 | 11.5 | [Green technology innovation and financial development: Do environmental regulation and innovation output matter?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105237) | [Energy Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-economics.md) | 2021-03-18 | Chengchao Lv, Changhua Shao, Chien‐Chiang Lee |

## Management

*Most-cited management papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14,276 | 217.9 | [How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-05-14 | Naveen Donthu, Satish Kumar, Debmalya Mukherjee et al. |
| 2 | 2,485 | 39.7 | [CB-SEM vs PLS-SEM methods for research in social sciences and technology forecasting](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121092) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2021-08-09 | Ganesh Dash, Justin Paul |
| 3 | 1,155 | 19.1 | [Digital economy: An innovation driver for total factor productivity](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.061) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-10-11 | Wenrong Pan, Tao Xie, Zhuwang Wang et al. |
| 4 | 1,042 | 17.7 | [The digital divide: A review and future research agenda](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121359) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2021-11-27 | Sophie Lythreatis, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar |
| 5 | 944 | 15.1 | [COVID-19 and digitalization: The great acceleration](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.011) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-08-10 | Joseph Amankwah‐Amoah, Zaheer Khan, Geoffrey Wood et al. |
| 6 | 748 | 11.5 | [Understanding AI adoption in manufacturing and production firms using an integrated TAM-TOE model](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120880) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2021-05-23 | Sheshadri Chatterjee, Nripendra Pratap Rana, Yogesh Kumar Dwivedi et al. |
| 7 | 702 | 10.1 | [The impact of big data analytics and artificial intelligence on green supply chain process integration and hospital environmental performance](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120557) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2021-01-07 | Smaïl Benzidia, Naouel Makaoui, Omar Bentahar |
| 8 | 694 | 10.3 | [Do carbon emission trading schemes stimulate green innovation in enterprises? Evidence from China](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120744) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2021-03-21 | Zhongfei Chen, Xiao Zhang, Fanglin Chen |
| 9 | 693 | 10.7 | [Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer marketing on social media](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.024) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-05-29 | Do Yeon Kim, Hye-Young Kim |
| 10 | 666 | 10.1 | [Understanding influencer marketing: The role of congruence between influencers, products and consumers](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.067) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-04-22 | Daniel Belanche, Luis V. Casaló, Marta Flavián et al. |

## Marketing

*Most-cited marketing papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,192 | 17.1 | [Understanding anthropomorphism in service provision: a meta-analysis of physical robots, chatbots, and other AI](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00762-y) | [Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-the-academy-of-marketing-science.md) | 2021-01-06 | Markus Blut, Cheng Wang, Nancy V. Wünderlich et al. |
| 2 | 531 | 7.9 | [The effect of COVID-19 on consumer shopping behaviour: Generational cohort perspective](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102542) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-03-14 | Ludvík Eger, Lenka Komárková, Dana Egerová et al. |
| 3 | 481 | 7.7 | [The effects of service quality, perceived value and trust in home delivery service personnel on customer satisfaction: Evidence from a developing country](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102721) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-08-16 | Md. Uzir Hossain Uzir, Hussam Al Halbusi, Ramayah Thurasamy et al. |
| 4 | 458 | 6.8 | [A Framework for Collaborative Artificial Intelligence in Marketing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2021.03.001) | [Journal of Retailing](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing.md) | 2021-03-08 | Ming‐Hui Huang, Roland T. Rust |
| 5 | 402 | 5.9 | [How attachment affects user stickiness on live streaming platforms: A socio-technical approach perspective](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102478) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-02-11 | You Li, Xiaolin Li, Jiali Cai |
| 6 | 375 | 6.2 | [Way to success: Understanding top streamer's popularity and influence from the perspective of source characteristics](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102786) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-10-07 | Yuanyuan Guo, Kexin Zhang, Chaoyou Wang |
| 7 | 370 | 5.6 | [Online consumer resilience during a pandemic: An exploratory study of e-commerce behavior before, during and after a COVID-19 lockdown](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102570) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-04-19 | Cameron H. Guthrie, Samuel Fosso Wamba, Jean Brice Arnaud |
| 8 | 370 | 6.0 | [The impact of online celebrity in livestreaming E-commerce on purchase intention from the perspective of emotional contagion](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102733) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-08-30 | Lu Meng, Shen Duan, Yijun Zhao et al. |
| 9 | 342 | 5.0 | [How artificial intelligence will affect the future of retailing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2021.01.005) | [Journal of Retailing](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing.md) | 2021-02-04 | Abhijit Guha, Dhruv Grewal, Praveen K. Kopalle et al. |
| 10 | 341 | 5.5 | [Interactivity, Inspiration, and Perceived Usefulness! How retailers’ AR-apps improve consumer engagement through flow](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102756) | [Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services.md) | 2021-09-09 | Vahideh Arghashi, Cenk Yüksel |

## Information Systems

*Most-cited information systems papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,957 | 44.3 | [Machine learning and deep learning](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-021-00475-2) | [Electronic Markets](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/electronic-markets.md) | 2021-04-08 | Christian Janiesch, Patrick Zschech, Kai Heinrich |
| 2 | 2,248 | 32.7 | [Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA): Guidelines for research practice in Information Systems and marketing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102310) | [International Journal of Information Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-information-management.md) | 2021-02-06 | Ilias O. Pappas, Arch George Woodside |
| 3 | 1,699 | 24.6 | [Artificial intelligence capability: Conceptualization, measurement calibration, and empirical study on its impact on organizational creativity and firm performance](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2021.103434) | [Information & Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/information-management.md) | 2021-01-24 | Patrick Mikalef, Manjul Gupta |
| 4 | 1,119 | 19.1 | [Digital transformation in business and management research: An overview of the current status quo](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102466) | [International Journal of Information Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-information-management.md) | 2021-12-15 | Sascha Kraus, Susanne Durst, João J. Ferreira et al. |
| 5 | 1,042 | 16.8 | [Artificial Intelligence and Business Value: a Literature Review](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-021-10186-w) | [Information Systems Frontiers](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/information-systems-frontiers.md) | 2021-08-25 | Ida Merete Enholm, Emmanouil Papagiannidis, Patrick Mikalef et al. |
| 6 | 931 | 13.6 | [Digital Twin: Generalization, characterization and implementation](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2021.113524) | [Decision Support Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/decision-support-systems.md) | 2021-02-17 | Eric VanDerHorn, Sankaran Mahadevan |
| 7 | 827 | 13.1 | [Blockchain technology for bridging trust, traceability and transparency in circular supply chain](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2021.103508) | [Information & Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/information-management.md) | 2021-07-27 | Piera Centobelli, Roberto Cerchione, Pasquale Del Vecchio et al. |
| 8 | 791 | 11.8 | [Implications of the use of artificial intelligence in public governance: A systematic literature review and a research agenda](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2021.101577) | [Government Information Quarterly](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/government-information-quarterly.md) | 2021-03-23 | Anneke Zuiderwijk, Yu‐Che Chen, Fadi Salem |
| 9 | 781 | 12.3 | [Artificial intelligence in information systems research: A systematic literature review and research agenda](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102383) | [International Journal of Information Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-information-management.md) | 2021-07-08 | Christopher Collins, Denis Dennehy, Kieran Conboy et al. |
| 10 | 780 | 11.3 | [Generative adversarial network: An overview of theory and applications](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2020.100004) | [International Journal of Information Management Data Insights](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-information-management-data-insights.md) | 2021-01-27 | Alankrita Aggarwal, Mamta Mittal, Gopi Battineni |

## Tourism and Hospitality

*Most-cited tourism and hospitality papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,687 | 25.4 | [Understanding and managing the threat of common method bias: Detection, prevention and control](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104330) | [Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/tourism-management.md) | 2021-04-16 | Florian Köck, Adiyukh Berbekova, A. George Assaf |
| 2 | 488 | 7.9 | [Top management green commitment and green intellectual capital as enablers of hotel environmental performance: The mediating role of green human resource management](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104431) | [Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/tourism-management.md) | 2021-09-11 | Kavitha Haldorai, Woo Gon Kim, R.L. Fernando Garcia |
| 3 | 475 | 7.6 | [Green HRM, environmental awareness and green behaviors: The moderating role of servant leadership](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104401) | [Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/tourism-management.md) | 2021-08-15 | Mahlagha Darvishmotevali, Levent Altınay |
| 4 | 404 | 5.8 | [Forecasting tourism recovery amid COVID-19](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2021.103149) | [Annals of Tourism Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/annals-of-tourism-research.md) | 2021-01-18 | Hanyuan Zhang, Haiyan Song, Long Wen et al. |
| 5 | 403 | 6.0 | [Rural tourism: A systematic literature review on definitions and challenges](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.03.001) | [Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-hospitality-and-tourism-management.md) | 2021-03-21 | Putu Devi Rosalina, Karine Dupré, Wang Ying |
| 6 | 399 | 6.1 | [Understanding memorable tourism experiences and behavioural intentions of heritage tourists](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100621) | [Journal of Destination Marketing & Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-destination-marketing-management.md) | 2021-05-25 | Seyyed Mostafa Rasoolimanesh, Siamak Seyfi, C. Michael Hall et al. |
| 7 | 366 | 5.4 | [Effects of rural revitalization on rural tourism](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.02.008) | [Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-hospitality-and-tourism-management.md) | 2021-03-02 | Jun Yang, Ruxin Yang, Ming‐Hsiang Chen et al. |
| 8 | 355 | 5.2 | [Crisis management research (1985–2020) in the hospitality and tourism industry: A review and research agenda](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104307) | [Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/tourism-management.md) | 2021-03-03 | Tai Ming Wut, Jing Bill Xu, Shun-Mun Helen Wong |
| 9 | 349 | 5.2 | [A systematic review of AI technology-based service encounters: Implications for hospitality and tourism operations](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102930) | [International Journal of Hospitality Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-hospitality-management.md) | 2021-04-06 | Minglong Li, Dexiang Yin, Hailian Qiu et al. |
| 10 | 332 | 4.8 | [Do job insecurity, anxiety and depression caused by the COVID-19 pandemic influence hotel employees’ self-rated task performance? The moderating role of employee resilience](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102868) | [International Journal of Hospitality Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-hospitality-management.md) | 2021-01-28 | Teresa Aguiar-Quintana, Thi Hong Hai Nguyen, Yasmina Araujo Cabrera et al. |

## Operations Research

*Most-cited operations research papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,224 | 33.1 | [Aquila Optimizer: A novel meta-heuristic optimization algorithm](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2021.107250) | [Computers & Industrial Engineering](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/computers-industrial-engineering.md) | 2021-03-23 | Laith Abualigah, Dalia Yousri, Mohamed Abd Elaziz et al. |
| 2 | 1,447 | 22.2 | [African vultures optimization algorithm: A new nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm for global optimization problems](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2021.107408) | [Computers & Industrial Engineering](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/computers-industrial-engineering.md) | 2021-05-21 | Benyamın Abdollahzadeh, Farhad Soleimanian Gharehchopogh, Seyedali Mirjalili |
| 3 | 994 | 14.5 | [COVID-19 pandemic related supply chain studies: A systematic review](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2021.102271) | [Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/transportation-research-part-e-logistics-and-transportation-review.md) | 2021-02-15 | Priyabrata Chowdhury, Sanjoy Kumar Paul, Shahriar Kaisar et al. |
| 4 | 796 | 11.6 | [Artificial intelligence-driven innovation for enhancing supply chain resilience and performance under the effect of supply chain dynamism: an empirical investigation](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-021-03956-x) | [Annals of Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/annals-of-operations-research.md) | 2021-02-03 | Amine Belhadi, Venkatesh Mani, Sachin Kamble et al. |
| 5 | 745 | 11.5 | [Reinforcement learning for combinatorial optimization: A survey](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2021.105400) | [Computers & Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/computers-operations-research.md) | 2021-05-28 | Nina Mazyavkina, Sergey Sviridov, Sergei Ivanov et al. |
| 6 | 686 | 9.9 | [Planning and control of autonomous mobile robots for intralogistics: Literature review and research agenda](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2021.01.019) | [European Journal of Operational Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/european-journal-of-operational-research.md) | 2021-01-18 | Giuseppe Ismael Fragapane, René B.M. de Koster, Fabio Sgarbossa et al. |
| 7 | 685 | 9.9 | [Adoption and use of AI tools: a research agenda grounded in UTAUT](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-020-03918-9) | [Annals of Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/annals-of-operations-research.md) | 2021-01-19 | Viswanath Venkatesh |
| 8 | 683 | 9.8 | [Supply chain disruptions and resilience: a major review and future research agenda](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-020-03912-1) | [Annals of Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/annals-of-operations-research.md) | 2021-01-08 | Korina Katsaliaki, Panagiota Galetsi⁠, Sameer Kumar |
| 9 | 585 | 10.1 | [TOPSIS and Modified TOPSIS: A comparative analysis](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dajour.2021.100021) | [Decision Analytics Journal](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/decision-analytics-journal.md) | 2021-12-24 | Subrata Chakraborty |
| 10 | 526 | 8.4 | [Artificial intelligence applications in supply chain management](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108250) | [International Journal of Production Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-production-economics.md) | 2021-08-05 | Mehrdokht Pournader, ‬Hadi Ghaderi, Amir Hassanzadegan et al. |

## AI

*Most-cited AI papers published in 2021*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7,886 | 117.8 | [Review of deep learning: concepts, CNN architectures, challenges, applications, future directions](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40537-021-00444-8) | [Journal Of Big Data](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-big-data.md) | 2021-03-31 | Laith Alzubaidi, Jinglan Zhang, Amjad J. Humaidi et al. |
| 2 | 5,262 | 81.4 | [A Survey of Convolutional Neural Networks: Analysis, Applications, and Prospects](https://doi.org/10.1109/tnnls.2021.3084827) | [IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-neural-networks-and-learning-systems.md) | 2021-06-10 | Zewen Li, Fan Liu, Wenjie Yang et al. |
| 3 | 3,925 | 58.4 | [Knowledge Distillation: A Survey](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11263-021-01453-z) | [International Journal of Computer Vision](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-computer-vision.md) | 2021-03-22 | Jianping Gou, Baosheng Yu, Stephen J. Maybank et al. |
| 4 | 3,794 | 54.3 | [Image Segmentation Using Deep Learning: A Survey](https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2021.3059968) | [IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-pattern-analysis-and-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-01-01 | Shervin Minaee, Yuri Y. Boykov, Fatih Porikli et al. |
| 5 | 3,636 | 54.0 | [Learning nonlinear operators via DeepONet based on the universal approximation theorem of operators](https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-021-00302-5) | [Nature Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/nature-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-03-18 | Lu Lu, Pengzhan Jin, Guofei Pang et al. |
| 6 | 2,940 | 44.5 | [A Survey on Knowledge Graphs: Representation, Acquisition, and Applications](https://doi.org/10.1109/tnnls.2021.3070843) | [IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-neural-networks-and-learning-systems.md) | 2021-04-26 | Shaoxiong Ji, Shirui Pan, Erik Cambria et al. |
| 7 | 2,904 | 43.4 | [A Survey on Multi-Task Learning](https://doi.org/10.1109/tkde.2021.3070203) | [IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-knowledge-and-data-engineering.md) | 2021-03-31 | Yu Zhang, Qiang Yang |
| 8 | 2,769 | 42.5 | [A review of uncertainty quantification in deep learning: Techniques, applications and challenges](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2021.05.008) | [Information Fusion](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/information-fusion.md) | 2021-05-23 | Moloud Abdar, Farhad Pourpanah, Sadiq Hussain et al. |
| 9 | 2,325 | 36.5 | [ProtTrans: Toward Understanding the Language of Life Through Self-Supervised Learning](https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2021.3095381) | [IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-pattern-analysis-and-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-07-07 | Ahmed Elnaggar, Michael Heinzinger, Christian Dallago et al. |
| 10 | 2,302 | 33.3 | [Deep Learning for Person Re-Identification: A Survey and Outlook](https://doi.org/10.1109/tpami.2021.3054775) | [IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ieee-transactions-on-pattern-analysis-and-machine-intelligence.md) | 2021-01-26 | Mang Ye, Jianbing Shen, Gaojie Lin et al. |

## Cite this page

Scholar4AI. (2026). Most-cited papers published in 2021. Journal Research Rankings. Retrieved October 29, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2021

```bibtex
@misc{scholar4ai-rankings-cited-2021,
  author = {{Scholar4AI}},
  title = {Most-cited papers published in 2021},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/cited/2021}},
  urldate = {2026-10-29},
  note = {Journal Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
```

License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).