Dr. William:

I want to apply for EB1 immigration category, and I have some publications. But my problem is that all six citations of my work are not in peer-reviewed journals, but in newsletters or editorial comments. In your opinion, do you believe that my citation records will weaken the importance of my publications and my EB1 application as a whole?

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Answer: 

All six citations of your work are not in peer-reviewed journals but in newsletters or as editorial comments may weaken the importance of your papers. But the citations in the newsletters or editorial comments are not worthless, they can also play very important role in your EB1-Extraordinary Ability or EB1-Outstanding Researcher/Professor application. The newsletters or editorial comments can have a high impact for your Green Card application if your work is mentioned.

As in professional journals, self citations in the newsletters or editorial comments does not count as citations for EB1 application. If your papers are published more than one year ago, and you do not have citations in peer-reviewed journals, then you have to show the importance of your scientific work and the impact to your field in some other ways.