Few scientific journals or other serial publications emphasize reports of research on germplasm conservation, making it difficult for scientists and research librarians to identify key publications in this discipline. Citation analysis was used to determine most-cited works on the storage of seeds, pollen and plant tissue cultures. Two hundred research articles published during the 1980s were used in this study. They contained 3674 citations of published works, with 2926 of journal articles or other serials, 399 of book chapters and 349 of complete books and theses. The 100 most-cited works accounted for 22% of all citations. Lists of most-cited works are included. Citations were concentrated in particular journals. A core of 28 journals comprised half of all citations of serial publications. The most common disciplines covered by these 28 journals are horticulture, general botany, seed science, plant physiology, agronomy and general science.