Figure 12 . Autism Research Citation Rate from 1980 to 2009.

Line graph.  On the y-axis, the average 2-year citation count per publication are plotted in 5-year intervals. The x-axis displays dates in 6 concurrent 5-year intervals starting with 1980 to 1984, 1985 to 1989, 1990 to 1994, 1995 to 1999, 2000 to 2004, and lastly 2005 to 2009.  Beginning in the years 1980 to 1984, the average 2-year citation rate for ASD publications was approximately one.  The rate remained close to one for the next two 5-year intervals (1985 to 1989 and 1990 to 1994, respectively). The 2-year citation rate increased to an average of 1.7 between the years 1995 and 1999, then increased to 2.6 from 2000 to 2004, and culminated in an average 2-year citation rate of four citations per ASD publication in the years 2005 to 2009.