Citation counts are the main way of determining the impact of an individual article. In theory, highly cited articles are interpreted as impactful publications. Keep in mind that it takes time to accrue citations and citation patterns are different across disciplines. Google Scholar and Web of Science all keep track of citation counts and are displayed on the search results page.
The raw citation counts can be analyzed according to a number of variables using Web of Science* or Scopus. Citation counts are also used in the calculation of the h-index and other indices. Use of citation counts in research metrics assumes that citations are an indication of research impact - that is, that the research being cited has made a contribution to to the research that cites it.
Other citation-based article indicators include:
