J. W. Head

73.9k total citations · 9 hit papers
1.7k papers, 50.6k citations indexed

About

J. W. Head is a scholar working on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Atmospheric Science and Aerospace Engineering. According to data from OpenAlex, J. W. Head has authored 1.7k papers receiving a total of 50.6k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 1.5k papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 593 papers in Atmospheric Science and 506 papers in Aerospace Engineering. Recurrent topics in J. W. Head's work include Planetary Science and Exploration (1.4k papers), Astro and Planetary Science (1.1k papers) and Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (579 papers). J. W. Head is often cited by papers focused on Planetary Science and Exploration (1.4k papers), Astro and Planetary Science (1.1k papers) and Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (579 papers). J. W. Head collaborates with scholars based in United States, United Kingdom and Russia. J. W. Head's co-authors include Lionel Wilson, C. I. Fassett, D. R. Marchant, Sean C. Solomon, M. A. Kreslavsky, M. H. Carr, A. T. Basilevsky, М. А. Иванов, H. Hiesinger and John F. Mustard and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In The Last Decade

J. W. Head

1.6k papers receiving 46.9k citations

Hit Papers

Ascent and eruption of ba... 1973 2026 1990 2008 1981 2003 2009 1992 2000 200 400 600
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. Ascent and eruption of basaltic magma on the Earth and Moon
    1981 602 citations Lionel Wilson, J. W. Head profile →
  2. Recent ice ages on Mars
    2003 560 citations J. W. Head et al. profile →
  3. Geologic history of Mars
    2009 469 citations J. W. Head et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters profile →
  4. The Mars Observer laser altimeter investigation
    1992 432 citations M. T. Zuber, David E. Smith et al. profile →
  5. Internal Structure and Early Thermal Evolution of Mars from Mars Global Surveyor Topography and Gravity
    2000 432 citations M. T. Zuber, Sean C. Solomon et al. profile →
  6. The timing of martian valley network activity: Constraints from buffered crater counting
    2008 359 citations C. I. Fassett, J. W. Head Icarus profile →
  7. Radial thickness variation in impact crater ejecta: implications for lunar basin deposits
    1973 348 citations J. W. Head et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters profile →
  8. Landing site of the Chang’e-6 lunar farside sample return mission from the Apollo basin
    2023 77 citations J. W. Head et al. profile →
  9. Long-lasting farside volcanism in the Apollo basin: Chang'e-6 landing site
    2024 52 citations Yuqi Qian, J. W. Head et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters profile →

Author Peers

Peers are selected by citation overlap in the author's most active subfields. citations · hero ref

Author Last Decade Papers Cites
J. W. Head 46.0k 21.5k 6.6k 6.6k 2.9k 1.7k 50.6k
A. S. McEwen 17.4k 0.4× 6.5k 0.3× 1.8k 0.3× 2.6k 0.4× 1.2k 0.4× 592 18.9k
R. E. Arvidson 15.0k 0.3× 4.6k 0.2× 1.8k 0.3× 2.8k 0.4× 1.1k 0.4× 555 18.1k
S. W. Squyres 14.8k 0.3× 5.0k 0.2× 1.5k 0.2× 2.3k 0.3× 1.3k 0.4× 323 16.6k
M. T. Zuber 20.5k 0.4× 5.8k 0.3× 4.0k 0.6× 3.6k 0.5× 938 0.3× 654 23.9k
P. R. Christensen 16.9k 0.4× 4.2k 0.2× 1.6k 0.2× 3.4k 0.5× 1.5k 0.5× 499 19.2k
John F. Mustard 13.9k 0.3× 5.7k 0.3× 1.3k 0.2× 1.9k 0.3× 5.5k 1.9× 271 23.2k
S. L. Murchie 15.6k 0.3× 4.7k 0.2× 1.6k 0.2× 2.1k 0.3× 1.5k 0.5× 496 16.6k
R. V. Morris 12.9k 0.3× 3.0k 0.1× 1.9k 0.3× 1.7k 0.3× 1.5k 0.5× 538 16.0k
Sean C. Solomon 20.3k 0.4× 7.9k 0.4× 10.6k 1.6× 1.8k 0.3× 599 0.2× 614 28.8k
R. Greeley 12.4k 0.3× 6.3k 0.3× 1.7k 0.3× 2.0k 0.3× 831 0.3× 498 15.8k

Countries citing papers authored by J. W. Head

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of J. W. Head's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by J. W. Head with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites J. W. Head more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by J. W. Head

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by J. W. Head. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by J. W. Head. The network helps show where J. W. Head may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of J. W. Head

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of J. W. Head. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of J. W. Head based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with J. W. Head. J. W. Head is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Barker, M. K., E. Mazarico, G. A. Neumann, et al.. (2025). Large-scale Roughness Properties of the Lunar North and South Polar Regions as Measured by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). The Planetary Science Journal. 6(4). 83–83. 1 indexed citations
2.
Ernst, Richard E., et al.. (2024). Geological mapping and characterization of the NW-Phoebe volcano-magmatic center on Venus. Planetary and Space Science. 254. 105996–105996. 1 indexed citations
3.
Bilali, Hafida El, et al.. (2024). Graben systems and geological history of Mbokomu Mons region, Parga Chasmata, Venus. Icarus. 423. 116268–116268. 1 indexed citations
4.
Fastook, J. L. & J. W. Head. (2024). Modeling glaciation of the Hellas Basin, Mars, for a ‘cold and icy’ late Noachian Paleoclimatic scenario. Icarus. 421. 116222–116222. 2 indexed citations
5.
Иванов, М. А. & J. W. Head. (2024). Large volcanoes on Venus: Morphology, morphometry, and stratigraphy. Icarus. 429. 116404–116404. 1 indexed citations
6.
Jaumann, R., Daniela Tirsch, Solmaz Adeli, et al.. (2024). Geological Record of Water and Wind Processes on Mars as Observed by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera. Space Science Reviews. 220(4). 5 indexed citations
7.
Runyon, Kirby, et al.. (2024). Orientale Basin as a Guide for Identifying Lunar Basin Datable Impact Melt and Assessing Impact Melt Differentiation. The Planetary Science Journal. 5(11). 249–249. 1 indexed citations
8.
Head, J. W., et al.. (2023). Evidence for a carbon-rich Mercury from the distribution of low-reflectance material (LRM) associated with large impact basins. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 613. 118192–118192. 5 indexed citations
9.
Иванов, М. А., J. W. Head, & H. Hiesinger. (2023). New insights into the regional and local geological context of the Luna 16 landing site. Icarus. 400. 115579–115579. 8 indexed citations
10.
Ernst, Richard E., et al.. (2023). Characterization of a 2700 km long bolide airburst chain, Phoebe Regio, Venus. Planetary and Space Science. 228. 105636–105636. 2 indexed citations
11.
Qian, Yuqi, Long Xiao, J. W. Head, et al.. (2023). First magnetic and spectroscopic constraints on attenuated space weathering at the Chang'e-5 landing site. Icarus. 410. 115892–115892. 17 indexed citations
12.
Xiao, Long, Jun Huang, Timothy Kusky, et al.. (2023). Evidence for marine sedimentary rocks in Utopia Planitia: Zhurong rover observations. National Science Review. 10(9). nwad137–nwad137. 27 indexed citations
13.
Jin, Lin, et al.. (2021). In search of the RNA world on Mars. Geobiology. 19(3). 307–321. 9 indexed citations
14.
Qian, Yuqi, Long Xiao, J. W. Head, & Lionel Wilson. (2021). The Long Sinuous Rille System in Northern Oceanus Procellarum and Its Relation to the Chang'e‐5 Returned Samples. Geophysical Research Letters. 48(11). 22 indexed citations
15.
Meng, Zhiguo, Yuqi Qian, Long Xiao, et al.. (2020). Thermophysical Features of the Rümker Region in Northern Oceanus Procellarum: Insights from CE-2 CELMS Data. Remote Sensing. 12(19). 3272–3272. 8 indexed citations
16.
Barker, M. K., E. Mazarico, T. P. McClanahan, et al.. (2019). Searching for Lunar Horizon Glow With the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets. 124(11). 2728–2744. 5 indexed citations
17.
Huang, Jun, Zhiyong Xiao, J. Flahaut, et al.. (2018). Geological Characteristics of Von Kármán Crater, Northwestern South Pole‐Aitken Basin: Chang'E‐4 Landing Site Region. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets. 123(7). 1684–1700. 117 indexed citations
18.
Baker, D. M. H., J. W. Head, L. M. Prockter, et al.. (2012). New Morphometric Measurements of Peak-Ring Basins on Mercury and the Moon: Results from the Mercury Laser Altimeter and Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter. elib (German Aerospace Center). 2 indexed citations
19.
Spaun, N. A., J. W. Head, & R. T. Pappalardo. (2002). The Spacing Distances of Chaos and Lenticulae on Europa. Urologia Internationalis. 42(3). 1723–4. 8 indexed citations
20.
Greeley, R., M. J. S. Belton, J. W. Head, et al.. (1993). Galileo Imaging Results from the Second Earth-Moon Flyby: Lunar Mariaand Related Units. elib (German Aerospace Center). 4 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

Explore authors with similar magnitude of impact

Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by A. S. McEwen Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by R. E. Arvidson Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by S. W. Squyres Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by M. T. Zuber Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by P. R. Christensen Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by John F. Mustard Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by S. L. Murchie Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by R. V. Morris Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Sean C. Solomon Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by R. Greeley
Rankless by CCL
2026