Basic ESO Publication Statistics

1996 - 2024
Last data update: 03 November 2024

Introduction

What is the ESO Telescope Bibliography?

The ESO Telescope Bibliography (telbib) is a database of refereed papers published by the ESO users' community. All papers use partly or exclusively data from ESO telescopes.

Coverage and Completeness
Access, Reports, Statistics
Paper classification / selection criteria
Populating the Database

ESO total

Publications

ESO publication statistics are derived from the Telescope Bibliography (telbib), a database of refereed articles that directly use ESO data. telbib is maintained by the ESO library. Here, we provide some basic statistics to give an overview of publications and citations for the publication years 1996-2024.

Notes:

VLT/VLTI: papers using data generated by VLT and VLTI instruments, including visitor instruments for which observing time is recommended by ESO, e.g., VLT Ultracam, VLTI PIONIER.

La Silla: papers using data generated by facilities located on La Silla, including visitor instruments for which observing time is recommended by ESO, e.g., NTT Ultracam. Papers based on data from non-ESO telescopes or observations obtained during ‘private’ periods are not included. Survey telescopes: papers using data generated by ESO’s survey telescopes VISTA and VST

APEX: papers using data generated by APEX, including visitor instruments for which observing time is recommended by ESO, e.g., APEX P-Artemis, APEX Z-Spec. Other visitor instruments (e.g., APEX/CONDOR) are excluded. Only papers based (entirely or partly) on ESO APEX time are included.

ALMA: papers using data generated by ALMA. Only papers based (entirely or partly) on European ALMA time are included.

Archive: papers using partly or exclusively archival data, i.e., observations without any overlap between observers and authors.

Papers can use data from more than one facility, therefore the total number cannot be calculated by simply adding all publications of the individual sites, telescopes, or instruments.

Publication and citation statistics mentioned in this report date from November 2024, unless indicated otherwise. Statistics for a given year will not be complete until approx. March of the following year.


Table 1: Numbers and percentages of refereed papers using ESO data (see also http://telbib.eso.org/pubstats_overview.php)
VLT/VLTILa SillaSurvey tel.APEXALMAArchiveTotalVLT/VLTI
%
La Silla %Survey tel.
%
APEX %ALMA %Archive %Total %
1996-350----350 - 100 - - - - 100
1997-389----389 - 100 - - - - 100
1998-404----405 - 100 - - - - 100
199929324----348 8 93 - - - - 100
200051299---3341 15 88 - - - 1 100
2001105316---6399 26 79 - - - 2 100
2002160289---19409 39 71 - - - 5 100
2003260305---20512 51 60 - - - 4 100
2004342316---54588 58 54 - - - 9 100
2005359297---55607 59 49 - - - 9 100
2006413280-12-98641 64 44 - 2 - 15 100
2007495312-1-115718 69 43 - 0 - 16 100
2008486289-8-107689 71 42 - 1 - 16 100
2009473260-15-115660 72 39 - 2 - 17 100
2010510277229-134738 69 38 0 4 - 18 100
20115562861327-143787 71 36 2 3 - 18 100
2012615270304216223866 71 31 3 5 2 26 100
2013568273384440225843 67 32 5 5 5 27 100
2014563267734747211871 65 31 8 5 5 24 100
2015555211943474238864 64 24 11 4 9 28 100
201656719910949131268946 60 21 12 5 14 28 100
2017634232152461523291,092 58 21 14 4 14 30 100
2018619239145441883461,096 56 22 13 4 17 32 100
2019600209150322173831,080 56 19 14 3 20 35 100
2020610210155392103881,079 57 19 14 4 19 36 100
2021639200189352184351,145 56 17 17 3 19 38 100
2022583175148402244221,043 56 17 14 4 21 40 100
2023624185123242614811,076 58 17 11 2 24 45 100
20244451118423171303753 59 15 11 3 23 40 100
Total 1996-202411,8617,7741,5055911,9495,12121,335 56 36 7 3 9 24 100
Show last 10 years Show all years

Citations

In bibliometric studies, numbers of publications show the observatory’s productivity, citations the impact papers have made among the community. Since it takes time to gather citations, older papers typically have higher citation numbers than recent ones.
While it is tempting to use publication and citation statistics for comparisons, this has to be done with utmost care as the numbers may have been obtained with different methodologies.

Table 2: Total and average citations of refereed papers using ESO data
PubsCitesAverage
199635019,17755
199738920,00351
199840540,949101
199934833,72097
200034120,23559
200139923,38659
200240926,94266
200351240,78080
200458849,25584
200560739,84266
200664151,34580
200771850,94671
200868946,34067
200966052,43479
201073853,61273
201178750,85665
201286652,02060
201384358,16769
201487152,55360
201586450,94859
201694654,82658
20171,09259,22054
20181,09657,63353
20191,08042,60339
20201,07934,05732
20211,14528,96525
20221,04318,78418
20231,07615,93015
20247533,0794

ESO and Other observatories

In order to put ESO’s research output into context, we give an overview of the total numbers of publications of major observatories for the publication years 1996 to 2024 (if already available). Note that some facilities date back further than that; their early years are not included in this graph.
The most simplistic way of comparing facilities is to look at the numbers of publications. Obviously, this favors large institutions with many facilities over smaller ones. A more meaningful investigation should normalize the numbers in some way, for instance by number of observing hours, by actual share of data used in the papers (as many scientific articles use data from more than one observatory), or by budget (telescope construction costs and maintenance).
When comparing publication statistics among different observatories, it is essential to assess the selection criteria applied by each observatory. To the best of our knowledge, the observatories shown in this graph include only papers that actually use observational data from their facilities (as opposed to merely referencing them). All papers were published in refereed journals.

The statistics shown in Fig. 3 and Table 3 were obtained as follows:

ESO total, VLT/VLTI, La Silla, ESO survey telescope, APEX (ESO and all partners), ALMA (Europe and all partners): ESO Telescope Bibliography (http://telbib.eso.org)

Chandra: Chandra Bibliographic Statistics (http://cxc.harvard.edu/cda/bibstats/bibstats.html ‘Refereed Chandra Science Papers’ and http://cxc.harvard.edu/cda/bibstats/plots/Current/Papers_by-year.txt)

Gemini: Gemini publications, (http://www.gemini.edu/science/publications/), statistics via NASA/ADS, bibgroup: Gemini

HST: HST Publication Statistics (http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/bibliography/pubstat.html)

JWST: JWST Publication Statistics (https://archive.stsci.edu/jwst/bibliography/pubstat.html)

Keck: Keck Refereed Publications List (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/scistratplan/kpub-keck-publications.html#top)

Spitzer: Spitzer Bibliographical Database (until 2020 at http://sohelp2.ipac.caltech.edu/bibsearch/, Observational + Legacy Enhanced Data Products), discontinued

Subaru: Subaru Publishing Results (https://subarutelescope.org/Observing/Proposals/Publish/index.html)

XMM: XMM-Newton in the Journals (http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmmbib.html). Number of publications per year provided by Norbert Schartel, ESA, Madrid, Spain

Table 3: Number of refereed papers using data from ESO and other observatories. Please note that statistics for a given year may remain incomplete throughout the following year. Links to the observatory statistics can be found via the links listed below Fig. 3
ESO
total
VLT/
VLTI
La
Silla
Survey
tel.
APEX
(ESO)
ALMA
(ESO)
APEX
(all)
ALMA
(all)
ChandraGeminiHSTJWSTKeckSpitzerSubaruXMM
1996350-350----- --307-53---
1997389-389----- --378-68---
1998405-404----- --509-109---
199934829324----- --502-128---
200034151299----- 552537-169-171
2001399105316----- 1982560-175-2385
2002409160289----- 33025602-193-52107
2003512260305----- 43127607-210-52242
2004588342316----- 40054611-2149073357
2005607359297----- 44778686-23213868350
2006641413280-12-22- 549101715-27732292441
2007718495312-1-5- 499122728-312503103389
2008689486289-8-19- 517135704-262527106438
2009660473260-15-29- 430151679-269681122472
2010738510277229-49- 421130734-289698139418
20117875562861327-50- 440189789-304659141450
20128666152703042166619 452170848-340717166414
20138435682733844407465 425205785-319694119438
20148715632677347477497 404231819-301661131399
201586455521194347463148 429204853-306668148370
20169465671991094913179234 436200883-305587122453
201710926342321524615272339 471230914-305617141394
201810966192391454418878381 454200968-318558158460
201910806002091503221764454 4212611016-312530148452
202010796102101553921069442 389251930-293465178388
202111456392001893521861486 3772441031-320-171422
202210435831751484022463452 36626196451315-194464
202310766241851232426142497 3842531057397301-150446
2024753445111842317140364 --------
Total21,33511,8617,7741,5055911,9491,0193,9789,7253,72620,7164486,9999,1152,8148,850

VLT instruments

VLT papers use data generated by VLT instruments. Visitor instruments for which observing time is recommended by ESO, e.g., VLT Ultracam, are included in the general VLT statistics, but are not shown in Fig. 4. Instrument-level data for the VLT are available since the beginning of operations, i.e., from publication year 1999 onwards

FLAMES papers are listed as GIRAFFE and/or UVES. NACO = NAOS + CONICA. SINFONI = SPIFFI + MACAO

Table 5: Number of refereed papers using VLT data
CRIRESESPRESSOFORS1FORS2GIRAFFEHAWK-IISAACKMOSMUSENACOSINFONISPHEREUVESVIMOSVISIRX-SHOOTER
1999--13---5---------
2000--242--11-----16---
2001--5010--23-----33---
2002--6030--38--1--51---
2003--91431-75--101-71---
2004--103893-86--232-982--
2005--76829-84--311-104203-
2006--897819-88--3913-117206-
20073-888230-83--5027-1335714-
20087-779833268--5124-1304622-
200910-7510436672--4129-1106720-
201019-4991391775--5636-134601913
201121-55113522451--5041-124572137
201225-47136502764--5541-136932350
201327-401014938461-5833-119761770
201423-27106592942324942-137791368
201520-159157243391746361614663478
201613-21109333434104738392912475867
201716-1610739371719773037341348923103
20188-18824324191398333647140688103
20191811060341713121204037411403718103
2020520561271711171332633601205916109
2021321125342271019164252544135551496
2022634944421951417029124611553983
202311408525015813200222443123358119
20241032340218191371010237722586
Total2451481,0811,8647683651,0621391,1658135793832,7671,1332711,185

VLTI instruments

VLTI papers use data generated by VLTI instruments, including visitor instruments for which observing time is recommended by ESO, e.g, VLTI PIONIER. Instrument-level data for the VLTI are available since the beginning of operations, i.e., from publication year 2002 onwards

Table 6: Number of refereed publications using data from VLTI instruments
AMBERGRAVITYMATISSEMIDIPIONIERVINCI
2002-----1
2003-----6
2004---3-12
2005---5-12
20061--11-6
20079--19-4
200812--11-1
200912--1814
201012--6-1
201116--1341
201218--821
201320--203-
201415--12131
201511--104-
201613--711-
2017107-5151
201879-610-
201978-612-
2020721139-
20214246310-
2022316639-
2023-144131
2024-24929-
Total1771232617211552

Survey telescopes: VISTA + VST

ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), with its VIRCAM camera, has produced science papers since 2010. Papers mostly use data from the VVV, VIKING, VMC, UltraVISTA, VHS, and VIDEO surveys. Observations with OmegaCAM at the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) led to the first data papers in 2014.

Table 7: Number of refereed publications using data from the VISTA and VST telescopes
VISTA (VIRCAM)VST (OmegaCAM)
20102-
201113-
201230-
201338-
2014658
20157224
20169419
201710255
201810749
201910158
202011661
202114671
202211458
20237570
20246931
Total1,144504

La Silla instruments

This section reports on papers that use data generated by other facilities of the La Silla Paranal (LSP) Observatory, located on La Silla. Papers based on data from non-ESO telescopes or observations obtained during reserved periods (e.g., national allocations of time) are not included. Instrument-level data for La Silla facilities are shown below from publication year 2000 onwards. Only papers based on data from FEROS (1.5m and 2.2m tel. combined), WFI (2.2m) EFOSC2 (2.2m, 3.6m, NTT combined), HARPS (3.6m), EMMI, and SOFI (both NTT) are included in the graph. The table also shows papers based on data from smaller or decommissioned La Silla facilities (e.g., TIMMI2, SUSI2) if observations took place during ESO time. Visitor instruments for which observing time is recommended by ESO (e.g., NTT Ultracam) are included in the general statistics, but are not shown in Fig. 7

Table 8: Number of refereed papers using data from La Silla facilities
2.2m 3.6mNTTLa Silla decomm.
FEROSWFIHARPSEFOSC2EMMISOFI
200063-245220237
20012816-453431217
20021918-283948178
20033415-444251169
200423382245263175
2005423010284949135
200636471223575591
200740522127684897
200848412630456580
200938333530435467
201048354940404455
201148336347384547
201254365940314434
201347327363314337
201449377147174935
201540268146133817
20163515834463120
20174099856112820
20184011121487308
20193491014432419
20203021233631715
2021505984611415
202239696343146
202332398473165
202413155211124
Total9135531,3759626899331,783

EFOSC2 = EFOSC2@NTT, EFOSC2@3.6m + EFOSC2@2.2m
FEROS = FEROS@1.5m + FEROS@2.2m
La Silla decomm. = small or decommissioned facilities.
National telescopes (e.g., Swiss Euler Tel.) are not included unless they are used in combination with data from ESO facilities.

APEX

APEX is a collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR, 55%), the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO, 13%), and ESO (32%). The telescope is located on the Chajnantor plateau in Chile’s Atacama region and is operated by ESO.

Publication information for APEX is available since the beginning of operations, i.e., from publication year 2006 onwards. Papers based on data from all APEX partners are recorded in the ESO Telescope Bibliography (telbib), but only those that use ESO/APEX data are counted in the ESO statistics.

Table 9: Number of refereed publications using ESO/APEX data and data generated by all APEX partners, respectively.
APEX
ESO/APEXall APEX
20061222
200715
2008819
20091529
20102949
20112750
20124266
20134474
20144774
20153463
20164979
20174672
20184478
20193264
20203969
20213561
20224063
20232442
20242340
Total5911,019


Imagers: APEX-SZ, Artemis, LABOCA, P-Artemis, SABOCA, SUPERCAM
Spectrographs: APEX-2A, CHAMP+, CONDOR, FLASH, LAsMA, MPI_1.1THz, nFLASH, PI230, SEPIA, SHFI, ZEUS-2, Z-Spec

ALMA

ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is an international collaboration between Europe, East Asia, and North America in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The European executive is represented by ESO, which also hosts the European ALMA Regional Centre. The other partners North America and East Asia are represented by NRAO and NAOJ, re- spectively. The ALMA telescope bibliography is maintained by the librarians at ESO and NRAO as well as by NAOJ.

Papers based on European observing time as well as on data from all ALMA partners are recorded in the ESO Telescope Bib- liography (telbib), but only those that use ESO/ALMA data are counted in the ESO statistics. Both numbers are shown below for comparison.

Papers resulting from science verification data are attributed to the four ALMA partners JAO, ESO, North America, and East Asia.

Table 10: Number of refereed publications using ESO/ALMA data and data generated by all ALMA partners per year, respectively.
ALMA
ESO/ALMAall ALMA
20121619
20134065
20144797
201574148
2016131234
2017152339
2018188381
2019217454
2020210442
2021218486
2022224452
2023261497
2024171364
Total1,9493,978

Archive

ESO data papers without any overlap between authors and the team of observers (as listed in the ESO Observing Schedule) are considered archival papers. They can use partly or exclusively archival data. The criteria for data use are the same as for all other ESO data papers.

The tables and graphs below show the absolute numbers as well as the percentages of papers using ESO data obtained by the team of authors (“PI data only"), obtained from the ESO or ALMA Archive ("Archive data only"), and obtained partly by the team of authors as well as from the ESO or ALMA Archive ("Archive + PI data"), respectively.

For APEX and ALMA, only papers based (entirely or partly) on ESO time are included.

Information about the use of archival data for VLT/VLTI observations and Chajnantor facilities (APEX/ALMA) is available since the start of operations of the respective telescopes and instruments. For La Silla facilities, this information is only available starting in publication year 2000.

Information about the current year is only shown as of July.

Table 11: Number of refereed publications using archival data per year (absolute numbers and percentages).
PI data onlyArchive data onlyArchive + PI dataAll archivalTotalPI data only %Archive data only %Archive + PI data %All archival %Total %
1999348---348100---100
200033821334199.10.60.30.9100
200139342639998.510.51.5100
20023901181940995.42.724.6100
20034921282051296.12.31.63.9100
200453434205458890.85.83.49.2100
200555229265560790.94.84.39.1100
200654366329864184.710.3515.3100
20076036748115718849.36.716100
2008582555210768984.587.515.5100
2009545595611566082.68.98.517.4100
2010604755913473881.810.2818.2100
2011644746914378781.89.48.818.2100
20126431457822386674.216.7925.8100
201361812510022584373.314.811.926.7100
20146601149721187175.813.111.124.2100
20156261489023886472.517.110.427.5100
20166781709826894671.71810.428.3100
2017763195134329109269.917.912.330.1100
2018750218128346109668.419.911.731.6100
2019697231152383108064.521.414.135.5100
202069122516338810796420.915.136100
202171026517043511456223.114.838100
2022621261161422104359.52515.440.5100
2023595256225481107655.323.820.944.7100
202444818911430375359.525.115.140.2100
Total15,0683,0302,0915,12121,335 71 14 10 24 100

More Information

Articles and Presentations

For articles and presentations related to the ESO Telescope Bibliography, see http://www.eso.org/sci/libraries/useful_links/publications.html

Further telbib-related links:

Search: ESO Telescope Bibliography (telbib)
Cite: ESO data citation policy
Understand: telbib Methodology
Explore: More info, reports, statistics


Cite as:

Grothkopf, U.; Meakins, S.; Escarlate, N.; Saldias, L. (2024). Basic ESO Publication Statistics. European Southern Observatory (ESO). https://doi.org/10.18727/docs/12


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