Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

The field of research on networks in applied mathematics and physics has seen a tremendous surge of interest in the last few years, and is probably one of the most active areas of research in statistical mechanics at the moment. My paper is a review of this field.

  Does it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that's useful to others?

As a review article it primarily covers previous discoveries. It is intended to serve as an introduction to these discoveries for people new to the field. I was invited to write it as someone who has done extensive research in the field in the last few years.

  Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

The mathematics of networks has applications in a wide variety of systems, including the Internet, technological networks such as power grids or airline routes, social networks, and biological networks like metabolic networks or food webs. The paper summarizes some of the most important recent discoveries in this area.

Mark Newman
Assistant Professor of Physics and Complex Systems
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI, USA