(FORTUNE Magazine) – Academic journals don't spend much on market research. So it can take years to figure out which articles people actually read (the ones that end up cited elsewhere). The magic of the Internet is changing that, allowing the Social Science Research Network to post papers on its Website (www.ssrn.com) and keep track of what gets downloaded and what doesn't. The biggest crowd pleaser so far? Efficient-markets guru Eugene Fama (pictured), one of the site's founders.

Top Five Downloads

1. "Efficiency of Financial Institutions: International Survey and Directions for Future Research," Allen N. Berger (Federal Reserve Board) and David B. Humphrey (Florida State University)

2. "Value vs. Growth: The International Evidence," Eugene F. Fama (University of Chicago) and Kenneth R. French (Yale)

3. "Market Efficiency, Long-Term Returns, and Behavioral Finance," Eugene F. Fama

4. "A Comparison of Dividend, Cash Flow, and Earnings Approaches to Equity Valuation," Theodore Sougiannis (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Stephen H. Penman (University of California at Berkeley)

5. "Taxes, Financing Decisions, and Firm Value," Eugene F. Fama and Kenneth R. French