  The citation impact of a scientific publication is usually seen as a
one-dimensional concept. We introduce a multi-dimensional framework for
characterizing the citation impact of a publication. In addition to the level
of citation impact, quantified by the number of citations received by a
publication, we also conceptualize and operationalize the depth and breadth and
the dependence and independence of the citation impact of a publication. The
proposed framework distinguishes between publications that have a deep citation
impact, typically in a relatively narrow research area, and publications that
have a broad citation impact, probably covering a wider area of research. It
also makes a distinction between publications that are strongly dependent on
earlier work and publications that make a more independent scientific
contribution. We use our multi-dimensional citation impact framework to report
basic descriptive statistics on the citation impact of highly cited
publications in all scientific disciplines. In addition, we present a detailed
case study focusing on the field of scientometrics. The proposed citation
impact framework provides a more in-depth understanding of the citation impact
of a publication than a traditional one-dimensional perspective.
