OOIR: Observatory of International Research

Papers

(The median citation count of International Journal of Astrobiology is 1. The table below lists those papers that are above that threshold based on CrossRef citation counts [max. 250 papers]. The publications cover those that have been published in the past four years, i.e., from 2021-08-01 to 2025-08-01.)

Article	Citations
Fungal biomarkers are detectable in Martian rock-analogues after space exposure: implications for the search of life on Mars	38
The social science perspective on the Fermi paradox	31
Identifying optimal decision-making strategies and determining effective messaging to maximize the expected outcomes of potential human–extraterrestrial encounters	17
Observation of significant photosynthesis in garden cress and cyanobacteria under simulated illumination from a K dwarf star	15
Reaching out to early-career astrobiologists: AbGradE's actions and perspectives	10
Abiogenesis: the Carter argument reconsidered	9
Submarine hydrothermal vent systems: the relevance of dynamic systems in chemical evolution and prebiotic chemistry experiments	8
Alien technology, conjunction and ergodicity	8
The future of intelligence in the Universe: a call for humility	7
Mars: new insights and unresolved questions – Corrigendum	7
Heat-induced changes in molecular biosignatures and the influence of Mars-relevant minerals	7
If extraterrestrial intelligence exists, it is unable to recognize humans as intelligent beings – ERRATUM	6
Survival of Xanthoria parietina in simulated space conditions: vitality assessment and spectroscopic analysis	6
Martian stick-like structures are not trace fossils: a new protocol for testing ichnogenicity synthesized from paleosol ichnology	6
Succession of the bacterial community from a spacecraft assembly clean room when enriched in brines relevant to Mars	6
Formalizing the Fermi paradox and combining consistent explanatory hypotheses	6
Houston, we have a problem…or do we? The trajectory of astrobioethics and Indigenous thought	6
Intelligence as a planetary scale process	5
Physical and chemical mechanisms that impact the detection, identification, and quantification of organic matter and the survival of microorganisms on the Martian surface – a review	5
Extraterrestrial nature reserves (ETNRs)	5
Fungus Penicillium rubens isolated from the International Space Station (ISS) shows faster colony growth and better spore resistance to cosmic radiation than type strain	5
Role of horizontal gene transfers and microbial ecology in the evolution of fluxes through the tricarboxylic acid cycle	5
Subsurface scientific exploration of extraterrestrial environments (MINAR 5): analogue science, technology and education in the Boulby Mine, UK – CORRIGENDUM	4
Astrobiology: resolution of the statistical Drake equation by Maccone's lognormal method in 50 steps	4
Special issue: Open questions and next steps in astrobiology in Europe – celebrating 20 years of EANA	4

Astrovirology: how viruses enhance our understanding of life in the Universe	4
Stromatolite photomorphogenesis: lighting up their shape	3
Iron reduction as a viable metabolic pathway in Enceladus’ ocean	3
Megatsunamis and microbial life on early Mars	3
Role of DNA repair pathways in the recovery of a dried, radioresistant cyanobacterium exposed to high-LET radiation: implications for the habitability of Mars	3
Astrobiocentrism: reflections on challenges in the transition to a vision of life and humanity in space	3
Fifty years of astrobiology: mapping researcher communities with topic-based network analyses	3
Computer simulations of biotic chiral selection scenarios	3
If extraterrestrial intelligence exists, it is unable to recognize humans as intelligent beings	3
Astrobiological applications of μ-mapping X-ray fluorescence spectrometry	3
Experimental and theoretical studies of the interactions of alanine onto surfaces of olivine and montmorillonite: relevance in astrobiology	3
Self-replicating probes are imminent – implications for SETI	3
Von Neumann probes: rationale, propulsion, interstellar transfer timing	3
Drosophila melanogaster: a promising system for space biology research	3
Hype, skin in the game, and the stability of cooperative science	3
Microbial protocols for spacecraft: 2. Biocidal effects of Delrin and nylon in sealed compartments may enhance bioburden reductions in planetary spacecraft	3
Bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, terrestrial analogue of extraterrestrial microorganisms?	3
Life detection in Martian returned samples: correlation between analytical techniques and biological signatures	2
Detection and prebiotic chemistry of possible glycine precursor molecule methylenimine towards the hot molecular core G10.47+0.03	2
Planetary biotechnospheres, biotechnosignatures and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence	2
Transdisciplinary contributions in undergraduate university students through a stratospheric balloon project with an astrobiological focus	2
Long-read sequencing reveals increased occurrence of genomic variants and adenosine methylation in Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 after long-duration flight exposure onboard the International Space	2
On biosignatures for Mars	2
Astroecology: bridging the gap between ecology and astrobiology	2
Runaway growth of planetesimals revisited: presenting criteria required for realistic modeling of planetesimal growth	2
Environmental constraints on the origin of life based on membrane formation: the role of salinity	2
Dehydrated thin film media to rapidly estimate bioburden for planetary protection flight implementation	2
Early taphonomic processes in a microbial-based sedimentary system from a temperate salt-pan site (Cervia salterns, Italy)	2
Presence of liquid water during the evolution of exomoons orbiting ejected free-floating planets	2
The challenging history of other Earths	2
Solid grains ejected from terrestrial exoplanets as a probe of the abundance of life in the Milky Way	2
Applications of microbial bioplastic polyhydroxyalkanoates as biosignatures for astrobiological detection	2
A proposed mechanism for the formation of protocell-like structures on Titan	2
Frontiers of astrobiology and the humanities	2
Detection of pre-industrial societies on exoplanets – ERRATUM	2
Hydrocarbons on Mars	2
Black holes as tools for quantum computing by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations	1
Database on mineral mediated carbon reduction: implications for future research	1
The Noonday argument: fine-graining, indexicals, and the nature of Copernican reasoning	1
The Fermi paradox: impact of astrophysical processes and dynamical evolution	1
Migrating extraterrestrial civilizations and interstellar colonization: implications for SETI and SETA	1
A philosophical perspective about the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the Universe	1
Intelligence as a planetary scale process – CORRIGENDUM	1
A non-anthropocentric solution to the Fermi paradox	1
Why do we need (another) universal tracers portal in Astrobiology?	1
Children of time: the geological recency of intelligence and its implications for SETI	1
Astrophysical existential threats: a comparative analysis	1
Habitability constraints by nutrient availability in atmospheres of rocky exoplanets	1
Surviving Mars: new insights into the persistence of facultative anaerobic microbes from analogue sites	1
Biomarkers in the Atacama Desert along the moisture gradient and the depth in the hyperarid zone: Phosphatase activity as trace of microbial activity	1

Prebiotic decluttering: the thermodynamic tail-wind to asymmetric autocatalysis	1
A brief epistemological discussion of astrotheology in the light of astrobiology	1
Metabolic pathways profiling of aerobiomes in the Earth’s lower atmosphere	1
Heat inactivation of proteins: implications for the Mars Sample Campaign and other extraterrestrial sample return missions	1
Inferring their minds and analysing our beliefs: on the contribution of (exo)psychology to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence	1
Breakthrough results in astrobiology: is ‘high risk’ research needed?	1
Galactic traversability: a new concept for extragalactic SETI	1