We examined drivers of article citations using 776 articles that were published from 1990 to 2012 in a broad-based and high-impact social sciences journal The Leadership Quarterly. These articles had 1191 unique authors having published and received in total (at the time of their most recent article published in our dataset) 16817 articles and 284777 citations respectively. Our models explained 66.6% of the variance in citations and showed that quantitative review method and theory articles were significantly more cited than were qualitative articles or agent-based simulations. As concerns quantitative articles which constituted the majority of the sample our model explained 80.3% of the variance in citations; some methods (e.g. use of SEM) and designs (e.g. meta-analysis) as well as theoretical approaches (e.g. use of transformational charismatic or visionary type-leadership theories) predicted higher article citations. Regarding statistical conclusion validity of quantitative articles articles having endogeneity threats received significantly fewer citations than did those using amore robust design or an estimation procedure that ensured correct causal estimation. We make several general recommendations on how to improve research practice and article citations.