Useful and useless publications measured by bibliometrics and scientometrics in orthopaedic surgery. Are the relevance of a journal and publication metrics useful enough for the scientific promotion of surgeons?

Characteristics and Trends of the Most Cited Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research Articles

Background

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research is one of the most influential and reputable scientific journals in the field of orthopaedics. Some of the most reputable publications related to orthopaedic research can be attributed to this journal and it continues to have a significant impact on modern research.

Objective

The purpose of this study is to identify the most influential articles, in terms of number of citations, published by Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. The goal of analyzing the most cited articles in is to create a baseline for future researchers to build upon and to uncover any trends in orthopaedic research.

Methods

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines were used to structure the data collection and analysis of this study. The Scopus database was used to compile the publication data. Data was then exported to an excel sheet to be further analyzed via a multi-author review process.

Results

The most cited article was “A Clinical Method of Functional Assessment of the Shoulder” by Constant et al.. The 50 articles analyzed in this study were cited a total of 32,404 times, averaging 719 citations per year, per publication. The oldest article was published in 1971, and the newest in 2008. The United States was the country with the most attributable publications and The University of Florida was the most contributory institution.

Conclusions

Our study recognizes Clinical Orthopaedics and Related research as having a strong predilection for older articles and a continued strength for modern publications.

Writing for SICOT-J

Every time a paper is submitted to the journal, we realize the effort and amount of work it takes for performing the study, writing, formatting, and submitting the paper for peer review. However, how many of these papers are suitable for publication? Medical writing considerations, including an understandable text that does not confuse reading, formality, and ethics in writing, should be kept in mind when preparing and writing a paper to be submitted for publication to a journal. This editorial note offers useful advice for the authors submitting their papers to a journal on what to keep in mind before submission, how to prepare a quality submission, how to win the editor for their paper to avoid rejection, and how to make it to the review process and maybe to get published. It is our belief that these tips and advice on medical writing apply to any author and any journal.