Patricia Murphy, university professor in food science and human nutrition, has been named one of the world’s top five most cited agricultural researchers for the second time.

In-cites.com, a Web site that tracks scientific research, listed Murphy as the fifth-most cited researcher in the field of agricultural sciences.

“This is very complimentary because people read what you’ve done and cite it in their own papers,” Murphy said. “That means your colleagues think what we’re doing here is important.”

Murphy attributed a lot of her success to luck.

“It’s partly lucky,” she said. “A couple of the areas I work in, I was one of the first people to work in that area.”

Brian Meyer, College of Agriculture spokesman, wasn’t surprised to see Murphy on the list.

“Murphy’s research deals with the healthy side of foods — you see a lot of headlines about that.” Meyer said. “It’s a testament to her research getting cited so often.”

Most of Murphy’s cited works have been from her research on mycotoxins produced by mold growing in corn and her research on isoflavones and other soy compounds.

Murphy was one of the first American researchers to work on mycotoxins in food.

“I feel fortunate to be at the beginning of the areas and to have done work important enough that other researchers have built on it,” she said.

“I feel humbled,” Murphy said, “other colleagues citing my work is the highest compliment of all.”

In-cites also listed Iowa State as the 10th-most cited institution in the world in agricultural sciences.

In 2002, Murphy was listed as the world’s fourth-most cited researcher in the field of agricultural sciences.