Objective To analyze the citation classics articles， and approach the research development history and the research direction in the future about surgical treatment for type 2 diabetes. Methods The most frequently cited articles had published in Social Sciences Citation Index database by the end of October 30， 2012 were retrieved. The 50 most frequently cited articles were selected. Articles were evaluated for several characteristics， including number of citations， publication time， country of origin， institution， journal， publication type of article， and authorship. Results The most frequently cited article received 1 751 citations and the least frequently cited article received 73 citations， with a mean of 242.76 citations per article. These citation classics were published in 18 high-impact journals， led by Annals of Surgery and Obesity Research as 10 papers. Of the 50 articles， 18 articles were clinical observational study， 20 articles concerned basic science， 10 articles were review articles， and 2 articles were commentary. These citation classics were published from 1990 to 2009， most of them （40） from 2000 to 2009. Three institutions produced 2 top-cited articles， including Medical College of Virginia， Monash University， and East Carolina University. These articles originated from 14 countries， the top was USA （22 articles）. Two persons authored 3 published papers （Cummings DE and Rubino F）. Conclusion Most “citation classics” in research about surgery for type 2 diabetes are observational studies published in high-impact journals by US-based authors after 1990.