National representation in the anaesthesia literature: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited anaesthesia journals*

A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications by Anesthesia Departments in the United Arab Emirates

The scholarly academic productivity and publication activities of anesthesia departments within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are currently unknown. We undertook a bibliometric study to quantify UAE anesthetists' contributions to various categories of articles in peer-reviewed high-impact anesthesia journals. Using a PubMed-based analysis, we studied the contribution of United Arab Emirates (UAE) anesthetists towards publications in eight high-impact anesthesia journals (represented in the database for 2023 from Journal Citation Reports®, Thomson Scientific) and four anesthesia subspecialty journals over five years ranging from 2019 to 2023. Additionally, we searched each journal's website for publications related to the individual region of the UAE. We included all categories of articles except correspondences (not free-standing), meeting abstracts, and book reviews. We analyzed the following subsets comprehensively: region of the UAE, author's affiliation to the anesthesia department, publication focus, first authorship, and corresponding author status. UAE anesthetists were involved in 31 publications during the five-year study period. Over 25% of publications originated from the UAE; others were international collaborations. Overall, the anesthesia publication rate in the UAE was less than one per year for one million inhabitants. Only five hospitals contributed more than one publication. The Abu Dhabi Emirate's two main cities (Abu Dhabi and Al Ain) contributed 71% of publications. The UAE anesthetists' primary publication focus was regional anesthesia, medication error, and neurosurgical anesthesia in either the review or original articles category. Our study reveals that the current academic publication output from the anesthesia departments in the UAE is minimal. Our analysis suggests the need for increased scholarly activity, which could significantly advance anesthesia research and practice in the UAE.

Unveiling transplantation research productivity of United States: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

The United States has witnessed significant advancements in the field of organ transplantation over the course of the last five decades, as demonstrated by a notable increase in the quantity of academic research. The presence of a highly dynamic research environment necessitates continuous evaluations to maintain the integrity and progress of the field.

AIM

To evaluate the total output and thematic emphasis of transplant research conducted in the United States.

METHODS

On January 10, 2023, we conducted a bibliometric search of United States research output in transplantation journals from the Web of Science database's Science Citation Index Expanded. We excluded editorials, meeting abstracts, and other non-article types. We analyzed annual trends, authors, institutions, articles, keywords, and countries collaborating with the United States, using VOSviewer 1.6.18 to create figures and tables.

RESULTS

The United States published 25956 papers (3078 reviews and 22878 articles) representing 37.7% of the world's scientific output. Canada emerged as the top collaborator with the United States, co-authoring 1263 articles. Leading institutions in United States transplantation research were the University of Pittsburgh (1749 articles), Mayo Clinic (1605 articles), Harvard Medical School (1549 articles), and Johns Hopkins University (1280 articles). The top three keywords with over 2000 occurrences were "recipients," "survival," and "outcomes," indicating a focus on graft and recipient outcome markers by United States researchers.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate the United States leadership in organ transplantation research, contributing significantly to the global scientific output in this field. However, opportunities exist for fostering expansive partnerships, particularly with developing countries. This study provides valuable insights into the transplantation research landscape in the United States, emphasizing the importance of ongoing evaluations to maintain and propel advancements in this critical medical discipline. The results may facilitate future collaborations, knowledge exchange, and the pursuit of innovative solutions in the realm of organ transplantation.

Bibliometric Evaluation of the 100 Top-Cited Articles on Anesthesiology

This review is a bibliometric analysis based on anesthesiology, which is a medical specialty that deals with a patient's complete preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care. The objective of the review attempts to analyze the bibliometric characteristics of the 100 most top-cited articles on anesthesiology. The meta-data of the study were collected from the Core Collection of Web of Science database. A title search option was employed, and "Anesthesia" and "Anesthesiology" were typed in two different search boxes separated with the Boolean operator ''OR''. Further, the data were sorted by highest citation order; later, "article" was selected from the filter of document type, and all other types of documents were excluded. Finally, downloaded the bibliographic details of the 100 top-cited articles. VOSviewer Software (version 1.6.10 by van Eck and Waltman) was used for bibliometric network analysis for co-authors and keywords. Pearson chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. The 100 top-cited articles were published between the years of 1971 and 2018. These articles gained a maximum of 1006 to a minimum of 276 citations with an average of 384.57 cites/article. Open accessed articles gained a slightly higher ratio of citations, while more than half of the articles were published in the two leading journals of "Anesthesiology" and "Anesthesia and Analgesia". There was no statistically significant difference in both citation analysis among open and closed access journals and Anesthesia vs Non-Anesthesia journals. Thirty-six articles were published in journals not specifically related to Anesthesia. Most of the top-cited articles were contributed by the United States, whereas Surgery and General Anesthesia were the two most occurred keywords.  We conclude that all the top-cited articles in anesthesiology were contributed by authors who belonged to the developed nations and the United States outclassed the rest of the world. This bibliometric analysis would be valuable to practitioners, academics, researchers, and students to understand the dynamics of progress in the field of anesthesiology.

Trends and hotspots related to traditional and modern approaches on acupuncture for stroke: A bibliometric and visualization analysis

BACKGROUND

Acupuncture role in stroke treatment and post-stroke rehabilitation has garnered significant attention. However, there is a noticeable gap in bibliometric studies on this topic. Additionally, the precision and comprehensive methodology of cluster analysis remain underexplored. This research sought to introduce an innovative cluster analysis technique (called follower-leading clustering algorithm, FLCA) to evaluate global publications and trends related to acupuncture for stroke in the recent decade.

METHODS

Publications pertaining to acupuncture for stroke from 2013 to 2022 were sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection. For the assessment of publication attributes-including contributing countries/regions (e.g., US states, provinces, and major cities in China) in comparison to others, institutions, departments, authors, journals, and keywords-we employed bibliometric visualization tools combined with the FLCA algorithm. The analysis findings, inclusive of present research status, prospective trends, and 3 influential articles, were presented through bibliometrics with visualizations.

RESULTS

We identified 1050 publications from 92 countries/regions. An initial gradual rise in publication numbers was observed until 2019, marking a pivotal juncture. Prominent contributors in research, based on criteria such as regions, institutions, departments, and authors, were Beijing (China), Beijing Univ Chinese Med (China), the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, and Lidian Chen (Fujian). The journal "Evid.-based Complement Altern" emerged as the most productive. The FLCA algorithm was effectively employed for co-word and author collaboration analyses. Furthermore, we detail the prevailing research status, anticipated trends, and 3 standout articles via bibliometrics.

CONCLUSION

Acupuncture for stroke presents a vast research avenue. It is imperative for scholars from various global regions and institutions to transcend academic boundaries to foster dialogue and cooperation. For forthcoming bibliometric investigations, the application of the FLCA algorithm for cluster analysis is advocated.

Spotlight on Early COVID-19 Research Productivity: A 1-Year Bibliometric Analysis

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), one of the most serious public health crises in over a century, has led to an unprecedented surge of publications across all areas of knowledge. This study assessed the early research productivity on COVID-19 in terms of vaccination, diagnosis, treatment, symptoms, risk factors, nutrition, and economy. The Scopus database was searched between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 to initially examine the research productivity on COVID-19, as measured by total publications by the 20 highest-ranked countries according to gross domestic product. The literature search was then refined, and research productivity was assessed across seven major research domains related to COVID-19: vaccination, diagnosis, treatment, symptoms, risk factors, nutrition, and economy. The initial literature search yielded 53,348 publications. Among these, 27,801 publications involved authorship from a single country and 22,119 publications involved authorship from multiple countries. Overall, the United States was the most productive country (n = 13,491), with one and a half times or more publications than any other country, on COVID-19 and the selected domains related to it. However, following adjustment for population size, gross domestic product, and expenditure for research and development, countries of emerging economies such as India along countries of lower population density such as Switzerland, Indonesia, and Turkey exhibited higher research productivity. The surge of COVID-19 publications in such a short period of time underlines the capacity of the scientific community to respond against a global health emergency; however where future research priorities and resource distribution should be placed on the respective thematic fields at an international level, warrants further investigation.

A 10-year bibliometric analysis of publications in emergency medicine

OBJECTIVE

Emergency medicine (EM) research is growing at a rapid pace. It is important to understand the scope and trends over time in order to identify gaps and future areas for growth. This study aimed to describe trends in scientific publications within EM over the past decade.

METHODS

We searched the Web of Science database's Emergency Medicine category for all scientific publications published between 2010 and 2019. Data were presented via descriptive statistics. Inferential bibliometric analyses included clustering of the selected parameters of keywords, Keyword Plus, titles, and abstracts; Bradford's law to evaluate core journals, and the Sankey diagrams to evaluate the flows between research themes over time.

RESULTS

We identified 32,858 articles written by 85,693 authors. The mean citations per document were 11. The top five countries with the highest number of publications were the United States (n = 42,221), Turkey (n = 6595), Canada (n = 6545), Australia (n = 5867), and China (n = 5322). The journals with the highest number of publications: the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Journal of Emergency Medicine, Resuscitation, and Pediatric Emergency Care. The most frequent topics were cardiovascular emergencies, resuscitation, mortality, patient outcomes, emergency imaging, triage, education, and management.

CONCLUSION

This bibliometric study is a quick snapshot of research in the EM field in the last decade and may provide insights into the scientific agendas of the EM professionals.

Digital Teaching in Medical Education: Scientific Literature Landscape Review

BACKGROUND

Digital teaching in medical education has grown in popularity in the recent years. However, to the best of our knowledge, no bibliometric report to date has been published that analyzes this important literature set to reveal prevailing topics and trends and their impacts reflected in citation counts.

OBJECTIVE

We used a bibliometric approach to unveil and evaluate the scientific literature on digital teaching research in medical education, demonstrating recurring research topics, productive authors, research organizations, countries, and journals. We further aimed to discuss some of the topics and findings reported by specific highly cited works.

METHODS

The Web of Science electronic database was searched to identify relevant papers on digital teaching research in medical education. Basic bibliographic data were obtained by the "Analyze" and "Create Citation Report" functions of the database. Complete bibliographic data were exported to VOSviewer for further analyses. Visualization maps were generated to display the recurring author keywords and terms mentioned in the titles and abstracts of the publications.

RESULTS

The analysis was based on data from 3978 papers that were identified. The literature received worldwide contributions with the most productive countries being the United States and United Kingdom. Reviews were significantly more cited, but the citations between open access vs non-open access papers did not significantly differ. Some themes were cited more often, reflected by terms such as virtual reality, innovation, trial, effectiveness, and anatomy. Different aspects in medical education were experimented for digital teaching, such as gross anatomy education, histology, complementary medicine, medicinal chemistry, and basic life support. Some studies have shown that digital teaching could increase learning satisfaction, knowledge gain, and even cost-effectiveness. More studies were conducted on trainees than on undergraduate students.

CONCLUSIONS

Digital teaching in medical education is expected to flourish in the future, especially during this era of COVID-19 pandemic.

Academic Publication of Anesthesiology From a Bibliographic Perspective From 1999 to 2018: Comparative Analysis Using Subject-Field Dataset and Department Dataset

Background: Publication activity in the field of anesthesiology informs decisions that enhance academic advancement. Most previous bibliometric studies on anesthesiology examined data limited to journals focused on anesthesiology rather than data answerable to authors in anesthesia departments. This study comprehensively explored publication trends in the field of anesthesiology and their impact. We hypothesized that anesthesiology's bibliometric scene would differ based on whether articles in the same study period were published in anesthesiology-focused journals or were produced by authors in anesthesia departments but published in non-specialty journals.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used bibliometric data from the Science Citation Index Expanded database between 1999 and 2018. Two datasets were assembled. The first dataset was a subject-dataset (articles published in 31 journals in the anesthesiology category of InCites Journal Citation Reports in 2018); the second dataset was the department-dataset (articles published in the Science Citation Index Expanded by authors in anesthesia departments). We captured the bibliographical record of each article in both datasets and noted each article's Institute for Scientific Information code, publication year, title, abstract, author addresses, subject category, and references for further study.

Results: A total of 69,593 articles were published—cited 1,497,932 times—in the subject-dataset; a total of 167,501 articles were published—cited 3,731,540 times—in the department-dataset. The results demonstrate differences between the two datasets. First, the number of articles was stagnant, with little growth (average annual growth rate = 0.31%) in the subject-dataset; whereas there was stable growth (average annual growth rate = 4.50%) in articles in the department-dataset. Second, only 30.4% of anesthesia department articles were published in anesthesiology journals. Third, journals related to “pain” had the lowest department-subject ratio, which was attributable to a large portion of non-anesthesia department researchers' participation in related research.

Conclusions: This study showed that articles published in anesthesiology-focused and non-specialty journals demonstrate fundamentally different trends. Thus, it not only helps researchers develop a more comprehensive understanding of the current publication status and trends in anesthesiology, but also provides a basis for national academic organizations to frame relevant anesthesiology development policies and rationalize resource allocation.

Publication performance of Indian authors in high impact anesthesiology journals: Are we doing enough?

Background and Aims

Over the years, there is a continuing increase in the number of anesthesia journals and good quality articles are being submitted to these journals from all over the world. The aim of the study was to assess the contribution of Indian authors to high impact anesthesia journals.

Material and Methods

The study is a literature survey design and thus ethics committee clearance was not required. Based on The Journal citation report (2017), top six anesthesia journals with highest impact factor were selected. Subspecialty journals were excluded. A search was conducted for articles published by Indian authors between September 2008 and August 2018 and subcategorized to review articles, original articles, case reports, correspondence, and miscellaneous. Corresponding author was noted in articles with authors from more than one country. The percentage of articles in each of the above categories by Indian authors were calculated and state and city wise distribution was also assessed.

Results

The six highest impact journals were Anesthesiology, British Journal of Anaesthesia, Anaesthesia, Anaesthesia analgesia, European journal of Anaesthesia and Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia with impact factor of 6.52, 6.49, 5.43, 3.46, 3.9, 3.37, respectively. A total of 22,298 articles were published in the six journals in the study period, out of which 242 (1.08%) were authored by Indians. Majority of the articles were published as correspondence (58%). Only 20% of total publication were original articles. Most publications were contributed from Delhi (76), followed by Chandigarh (49).

Conclusion

Publication performance of Indian authors in high impact journals is poor. There is an uneven distribution of publication across various regions.

Randomized Controlled Trials of Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Interventions Over the Past Two Decades: A Bibliometric Analysis

Introduction: The past several years have witnessed a significant increase in interest among the public in mindfulness with an unmistakable growth in the scientific literature investigating mindfulness-based therapies. A myriad of therapeutic uses of mindfulness have been studied. Given this burgeoning interest, the authors' objective was to conduct a broad-sweeping bibliometric analysis over the past two decades to describe overarching trends in the publications of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating mindfulness to broadly identify both strengths and gaps in this field and inform a strategic plan for further advancing this research area. Materials and Methods: The authors retrieved mindfulness-focused RCTs available on PubMed in the past two decades (2000-2019). They synthesized the literature with respect to publication numbers, countries of publication, journal type, areas of research focus, characteristics of study designs, sample size, and trends in remote intervention delivery. Results: The resulting 1389 publications represent a near exponential growth trend over the past 20 years. Publications from the top three countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) with the highest productivity accounted for 60% of total number of publications. The most published modalities include acceptance-based therapy (n = 260), mindfulness-based stress reduction (n = 238), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (n = 174), and dialectical behavior therapy (n = 82). Stress, depression, anxiety, pain, cancer, diet/healthy eating, and sleep were the most common major areas of focus. Studies included active (46%) or inactive controls (44%), and increasingly more studies with both types of controls (10%). The top 10 journals that published the most mindfulness RCTs were from behavioral sciences and psychiatry or psychology. There were 187 RCTs utilizing remote delivery, with 146 (87.1%) in the most recent 5 years. Conclusion: Publications of mindfulness-focused RCTs show a continuous increasing trend. Mindfulness research from non-Western countries and studies published in biomedical journals were less prevalent and potentially represent future opportunities. Trends of studies with both inactive and active controls support an overall advancement in research methodology. There has been a significant expansion of studies of remotely delivered mindfulness interventions. Future research might consider evaluation of a broader range of modalities and further examine optimal delivery formats.

A Bibliometric Analysis of 4 Major Foot and Ankle Surgery Journals

Research publication is a central to the scientific process and comprehensive bibliometric analysis is a leading way to better understand trends within research. Currently, there are limited bibliometric analyses of literature pertaining to foot and ankle surgery. This study aims to quantify the volume of research and investigate what may affect publication and citation. Journals associated with the 3 major orthopedic foot and ankle societies (Foot & Ankle International[FAI], Foot and Ankle Surgery, and The Foot) and one podiatric college (Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery®) were evaluated from January 2009 to December 2018 using Scopus (Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize article characteristics and regression modeling was used to determine factors associated with a country's current and future productivity and an article's citation rate. A total of 4994 articles were published over the 10-year period, with the largest contributor of publications being the United States of America (USA), who produced 2096 (41.8%) publications. Regression analysis found no association between a country's productivity and gross domestic product or population. There was no significant relationship between a country's baseline publication rate and future publication rate. The variables significantly associated with an increased citation count were; the number of years since publication, the number of authors, publication in FAI and if the article was a review. To our knowledge this is the largest bibliometric analysis of foot and ankle publications. The majority of research is being produced by the USA, but there are numerous complex factors associated with citation and publication rates. Further research is required to fully assess these factors and characterize the state of foot and ankle surgery research.

A bibliometric analysis of the field of anesthesia during 2009–2018

Objective

The limited number of bibliometric studies in the literature have generally focused on the top-cited studies in the field of anesthesia, however, there is a lack of studies that made a holistic bibliometric evaluation of these works. The purpose of this study is to make a contemporary summary of the articles published in the field of anesthesia within the last 10 years through detailed bibliometric methods.

Methods

The articles published between the years 2009 and 2018 were downloaded from the Web of Science (WoS) database and analyzed using bibliometric methods. The literature review was conducted using the keyword “Anesthesiology” in the “Research Area” category via the advanced search option available in WoS. The relation between the number of publications of the countries and the Gross Domestic Products and Human Development Index values were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The number of articles between the years 2019 and 2021 was estimated through linear regression analysis.

Results

A review of the literature indicated 41,003 articles in the Web of Science database. Estimations included 4,910 (3,971–5,849) articles for the year 2019. There was a high-level, positive significant correlation between the number of publications and Gross Domestic Product (r = 0.776, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The findings show that countries with high income are effective in the field of anesthesia, which indicates a strong association between research productivity and economic development. Undeveloped and developing countries should be encouraged to conduct research in the field of anesthesia.

[A bibliometric analysis of the field of anesthesia during 2009-2018]

OBJECTIVE

The limited number of bibliometric studies in the literature have generally focused on the top-cited studies in the field of anesthesia, however, there is a lack of studies that made a holistic bibliometric evaluation of these works. The purpose of this study is to make a contemporary summary of the articles published in the field of anesthesia within the last 10 years through detailed bibliometric methods.

METHODS

The articles published between the years 2009 and 2018 were downloaded from the Web of Science (WoS) database and analyzed using bibliometric methods. The literature review was conducted using the keyword "Anesthesiology" in the "Research Area" category via the advanced search option available in WoS. The relation between the number of publications of the countries and the Gross Domestic Products and Human Development Index values were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The number of articles between the years 2019 and 2021 was estimated through linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

A review of the literature indicated 41,003 articles in the Web of Science database. Estimations included 4,910 (3,971-5,849) articles for the year 2019. There was a high-level, positive significant correlation between the number of publications and Gross Domestic Product (r=0.776, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The findings show that countries with high income are effective in the field of anesthesia, which indicates a strong association between research productivity and economic development. Undeveloped and developing countries should be encouraged to conduct research in the field of anesthesia.

Worldwide research productivity in the field of full-endoscopic spine surgery: a bibliometric study

PURPOSE

To investigate the quantity and quality of articles in the field of full-endoscopic spine surgery (FESS) from different countries and assess characteristics of worldwide research productivity.

METHODS

Articles published from 1997 to July 23, 2018, were screened using the Web of Science database. All studies were assessed for the following parameters: the number of total publications, h-index, contribution of countries, authors, journals, and institutions.

RESULTS

A total of 408 articles were identified between 1997 and 2018. Between 1997 and 2017, the number of published articles tended to increase by 41 times. The largest number of articles was from China (30.15%), followed by South Korea (28.68%), the USA (13.97%), Germany (9.31%), and Japan (4.90%). The highest h-index was found for articles from South Korea (23), followed by the USA (18), Germany (16), China (11), and Japan (7). The highest number of articles was published in World Neurosurgery (12.50%), followed by Pain Physician (10.29%), Spine (6.62%), European Spine Journal (4.66%), and Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine (4.17%). Wooridul Spine Hospital published the largest number of articles (10.29%), followed by Tongji University (5.88%), University of Witten/Herdecke (5.39%), Brown University (5.15%), and Third Military Medical University (3.43%).

CONCLUSIONS

The number of articles published in the field of FESS has increased rapidly in the past 20 years. In terms of quantity, China is the most contributive country based on the number of publications. High-quality papers as measured by h-index and the large quantity is from South Korea (second only to China). These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Arthroplasty and global research output: A bibliometric analysis

Introduction

Peer-reviewed research helps to advance many aspects of medical and surgical practice. This paper determines the main contributors tos joint arthroplasty research in terms of quantity and quality.

Methods

A search of the Web of Science™ platform was conducted to identify arthroplasty articles published between 2001 and 2016. The number of articles and citations per article were analysed to assess the quantity and quality of research from individual countries. Results were standardised according to the country's populations and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Results

In total, 43,470 arthroplasty articles were published worldwide from January 2001 through December 2016. There was a 4.5-fold increase in global output during this time period. Twenty-two countries contributed at least 1% to the total number of publications. The United States of America published the most articles (35.40%), followed by England (10.31%) and Germany (10.03%). The USA had the highest absolute number of citations (50,777). Denmark had the highest average citation per item (8.76). When number of articles was normalized to population, Switzerland ranked the highest. When adjusted by GDP, Scotland ranked highest. When standardised according to GDP per capita, the People's Republic of China rated highest. The Journal of Arthroplasty produced the highest number of publications related to arthroplasty with 10.9% of total volume.

Conclusion

There has been a substantial increase in worldwide publications relating to arthroplasty. The USA has produced the largest volume whilst Denmark has produced the highest quality publications. When output was normalized according to population and GDP, Switzerland and Scotland ranked highest.

[Publications by university Departments of Anaesthesiology from Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2011-2015 : Scientific publications by university hospitals in D‑A-CH]

BACKGROUND

This study presents a count of publications and citations for all articles published by university Departments of Anaesthesiology in Germany, Austria and Switzerland between 2011 and 2015. The results were compared with former analyses of these countries from 2001-2010 as well as similar international studies.

METHODS

We performed a PubMed search based on PERL-scripts for all publications originating from university Departments of Anaesthesiology in Germany, Austria and Switzerland between 2011 and 2015. According to their author's affiliation, articles were assigned to their affiliated university department. Publications were considered an original article if the category of publication was classified as original research in PubMed. Predatory journals were omitted by using PubMed-listed journals only. Data of citations was retrieved from Thomson Reuter's ISI Web of Knowledge. The following indicators were reported: the number of publications and original articles (counting each author and first authors only) and the share of original articles out of all publications. With regard to citations, we reported the overall number, the percentage of publications, which were cited at least once and the median of citations per publication and per original article as well as the calculated h-index.

RESULTS

The 47 university Departments of Anaesthesiology published 4.697 articles between 2011 and 2015, which make up 89% of all anaesthesiology research originating from Germany, Austria and Switzerland (overall 5.284 publications). Of these, 1.037 (22%) were classified as original articles. Considering only articles with first authors, equalizing a change of PubMed's affiliation field policy in 2012 to compare the numbers with previous periods, 3.709 publications and 821 original articles were published. 90% of all publications and 96% of original articles, respectively, were cited at least once. Publications were cited six times, while original articles were cited nine times. The university department of Anaesthesiology in Zurich published most (n = 245), while most original articles were published in Vienna (n = 77). The highest share of original articles was achieved by Vienna (37%). Publications from Berlin - Benjamin Franklin and Jena (11 citations per publication) and original articles from Essen (23,5 citations per original article) achieved the highest citation rates.

DISCUSSION

In contrast to the worldwide increasing trend, the number of publications of the university Departments of Anaesthesiology in Germany, Austria and Switzerland stagnated. The share of original articles out of all publications continues to decline in comparison to 2001-2010 (-6%). Despite this, original articles were cited more frequently and thus had a higher value for the scientific community. The reasons of the decrease in the number of original articles remain unclear and require further investigation to reverse this negative trend.

CONCLUSION

Strategies to foster academic work in anaesthesiology in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are required.

Publications by Scandinavian university Departments of Anaesthesiology from 2001 to 2015

BACKGROUND

This study assessed the contribution made to research by Scandinavian university Departments of Anaesthesiology and their distribution among those departments.

METHODS

We committed a PubMed search for all publications originating from Scandinavian university Departments of Anaesthesiology between 2001 and 2015. Articles were assigned to their author's affiliated university department and to 3 time periods 2001-2005, 2006-2010 and 2011-2015. The number of publications, original articles and citations were analysed.

RESULTS

The 23 Scandinavian university Departments of Anaesthesiology published 5190 articles between 2001 and 2015, which make up 91.5% from all anaesthesiology research originating from Scandinavia. Of these 1760 (33.9%) were classified as original articles. The number of publications increased in the observed periods (from 1305 in 2001-2005 to 2452 in 2010-2015), but the share of original articles decreased (from 40% to 31%). Finnish university Departments of Anaesthesiology had the largest share of original articles. The university department of Copenhagen was the most productive Department of Anaesthesiology in terms of number of publications (n = 1187) and citation rate of original articles (median 24 citations per original article). Publications from Bergen scored the highest impact (median 19 citations per publication).

CONCLUSIONS

The number of publications from Scandinavian university Departments of Anaesthesiology increased between 2001 and 2015, but the share of original articles decreased. Copenhagen was the most productive university Department of Anaesthesiology based on the number of publications and citations of original articles. Finnish university Departments of Anaesthesiology led in the share of original articles out of all publications.

Worldwide arthroplasty research productivity and contribution of Turkey

Purpose

Bibliometrics is increasingly used to assess the quantity and quality of scientific research output in many research fields worldwide. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have documented the main characteristics of arthroplasty publications from different countries. This study aimed to evaluate the worldwide research productivity and status of Turkey in the field of arthroplasty using bibliometric methods and to provide an insight into the arthroplasty research for surgeons and researchers.

Methods

The Web of Science database was searched to identify arthroplasty articles published between 2006 and 2016. The contributions of countries were evaluated based on publication count, citation average, h-index and publication rate in the top 10 ranked journals. Each countries publication output was adjusted according to population size.

Results

A total of 26.167 articles were identified. World arthroplasty publications were increased significantly over time (p < .005). The United States was the most productive country with 9007 articles (34,4% of total) followed by England with 2939 articles (11,4 of total) and Germany with 1881 articles (7,1% of total). According to average citations per item, Scotland was in the first place followed by Denmark and Sweden, whereas in the first place according to publication output adjusted by population size was Switzerland followed by Denmark and Scotland. The United States was also in the first place according to h-index and publication rate in the top 10 ranked journals. Founding average was 28,8% (7539 of 26164) for the arthroplasty articles that were analyzed in the study.

Conclusion

There is a rapid increase in the number of articles in arthroplasty research from 2006 to 2016. The United States was the most productive country as measured by total publications in the arthroplasty field. However, some small European countries with high in-come have higher quality of articles and better productivity when adjusted for population. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and research foundation had positive affect on arthroplasty publications, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Representation of South Asian countries in five high-impact anesthesia journals

Context:

The South Asian region is comprised of eight countries, i.e., Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and Maldives. There is dearth of literature documenting anesthesia research in this region.

Aim:

The aim of this audit was to look at research productivity in the region by examining the volume and the type of anesthesia publication in five high-index anesthesia journals.

Settings and Design:

The study design was a survey of literature in the top five high-impact anesthesiology journals carried out at a tertiary care hospital.

Materials and Methods:

The journal citation report 2016 was accessed to identify the top five anesthesia journals based on their impact factor. We identified articles published in these journals between January 2000 and December 2015.

Statistical Analysis:

Microsoft Excel 2003 worksheet was used for data collection from extracted articles.

Results:

The highest number of publications came from India (n = 487) 95.9%; 58.5% of these were correspondence, 21% were original articles, 12.8% were case reports and case series, 1.2% reviews, and 1% editorials. Fourteen articles were published from Pakistan, with 1.2% original articles, 0.8% letter to editor, 0.6% audits, and 0.2% case reports. Nepal and Sri Lanka contributed seven publications. There were no publications in these journals from authors from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Maldives in the reviewed journals. The highest number of publications was equally distributed between two journals, i.e., “Anesthesia and Analgesia” (29.5%) and “Anesthesia” (28.9%).

Conclusion:

We found that scientific contributions from the South Asian region in terms of original anesthesiology research in five high index anesthesiology journals was suboptimal and has not shown an increasing trend over the last 16 years.

Bibliometric Analysis of Journals in the Field of Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas

Endoscopic endonasal surgery for pituitary adenomas is being performed more frequently worldwide in the recent years. This first bibliometric analysis was conducted aiming to have a microscopic view of research activities about endoscopic endonasal surgery for pituitary adenomas. The original articles about endoscopic endonasal surgery for pituitary adenomas were extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) and analyzed concerning their distributions. We also explored the potential correlations between publications of different countries and their gross domestic product (GDP) via Pearson correlation test. The total number of original articles retrieved from WoS was 307 from 1997 to 2017. The number of original articles published in the last decade has increased by 530.95% compared with that published in the former decade. The United States has published 124 articles (40.391%), followed by Italy with 40 (13.029%) and Japan with 27 articles (8.795%). The journal that published the highest number of original articles was Journal of Neurosurgery with 31 (10.098%), followed by Neurosurgery (n = 23, 7.492%), World Neurosurgery (n = 23, 7.492%), and Neurosurgical Focus (n = 15, 4.886%). There was a strong correlation between publication numbers and GDP of different countries (r = 0.889, P < 0.001). There is a skyrocket trend of endoscopic endonasal surgery for pituitary adenomas during the last 2 decades, and countries with high GDP tend to make more contributions to this field.

The Development of Emergency Medicine in South Korea: Academic Productivity in Highly Cited Journals

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to examine the number of publications by South Korean emergency physicians in highly cited journals and the increase in their numbers. It also sought to assess the impact factors of such publications.

Methods

The present study was a retrospective quantitative literature review of the publications by South Korean emergency physicians from 1996 to 2011 in the category of “emergency medicine” in the science edition of Journal Citation Reports 2011. We analysed the total number of articles published by South Korean emergency physicians and their impact factors.

Results

Between 1996 and 2011, the number of South Korean board-certified emergency physicians increased from 51 to 958, and 230 articles were published in 14 highly cited journals. The total impact factor (IF) of the original articles published during that period was 227.86, and the mean IF was 1.93. More than 10 articles had been published annually in the past 5 years in highly cited journals and there were over 400 South Korean board-certified emergency physicians.

Conclusions

Emergency medicine in South Korea started about 20 years ago, but academic productivity, indicated by at least ten articles annually in highly cited journals, was only achieved in the last five years. The mean IF of these articles was similar to that in other highly productive countries. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2014;21:205-212)

Worldwide Research Productivity in the Field of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery: A 20-year Survey of Publication Activities

MINI: The time trend for the number of minimally invasive spine surgery articles showed a significant increase over time with an average of 93.23 articles per year. Among all related journals, Spine published the largest number of articles in minimally invasive spine surgery research and was the most popular one in the top five countries.

STUDY DESIGN

Bibliometric analysis.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to reveal the characteristics of world productivity in the field of minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) research and to provide a general picture for surgeons and researchers.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Significant growth has been observed in the field of MISS research in recent years. However, bibliometric studies concerning the quantity and quality of articles published in MISS journals are scarce.

METHODS

All the data concerning MISS in this study originate from the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters, New York, NY) without restrictions. All selected literates were evaluated in the following aspects: publication year, publication journals, author, times cited, Web of Science category, countries/territories.

RESULTS

A total number of 2051 articles were published worldwide. The articles published during 2000 to 2015 are more than 11.28 times when compared to those published before 2000. The United States published the largest number of articles (855/2051, 41.7%), followed by Germany (245/2051, 11.9%), South Korea (160/2051, 7.8%), China (147/2051, 7.2%), and Japan (108/2051, 5.2%) and had the highest total citations (16,626). Additionally, the United States had the highest average citations per article (12.14), followed by Japan (11.98), Germany (11.19), South Korea (11.04), and China (10.95). High-income countries published 98.73% of articles, upper-middle-income countries published 0.24% of articles, and middle-income countries published 1.03% of articles.

CONCLUSION

The time trend for the number of MISS articles showed a significant increase over time with an average of 93.23 articles per year. The United States was the most productive country and had the highest average citations per article. Among related journals, Spine published the largest number of articles in MISS research and was the most popular one in the top five countries.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

5.

Global scientific production in the field of knee arthroplasty: A cross-sectional survey of research activities

Objective

To determine the quantity and quality of articles in the field of knee arthroplasty worldwide and elucidate the characteristics of global scientific production.

Methods

Web of Science was used to identify articles in the field of knee arthroplasty from 2011 to 2015. The total number of papers, number of papers per capita, total number of citations, and mean number of citations were collected.

Results

In total, 11,590 papers were identified. The number of publications significantly increased from 2011 to 2015. Most originated from North America, East Asia, and West Europe. Most (88.51%) were from high-income countries, 11.48% were from middle-income countries, and only 0.01% were from lower-income countries. The United States had the most articles and total citations. Sweden had the highest mean citations, followed by Denmark and Canada. However, when adjusted by population size, Denmark had the most articles per million population, followed by Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Conclusions

The number of knee arthroplasty publications has rapidly increased in recent years. The United States is the most prolific, but some European countries are more productive relative to their population.

Trend of academic publication activity in anesthesiology: A 2-decade bibliographic perspective

OBJECTIVES

The publication of anesthesiology papers presents the importance of understanding the corresponding research activity. This research used the bibliographic method to investigate the publication trend in anesthesiology using Science Citation Index Expanded over the period 1995-2014.

METHODS

The journals listed in the subject category of anesthesiology in the 2014 Journal Citation Reports were selected, and bibliographic information was collected from Science Citation Index Expanded, with 128,003 papers published from 1995 to 2014. Only the document type "article" was analyzed. The productivity and impact of various journals, countries, and institutions are discussed.

RESULTS

A total of 64,199 articles published from 1995 to 2014, with 1,084,491 cited times, were examined. The total number of articles published by journals showed a slight increase in the 2^nd decade. More than 45% of these articles were published by the top five journals, which have maintained their ranking over 2 decades. Most publications originated from North America and European countries, of which the United States had the highest number of publications and citations. Most of the institutions are academic universities and hospitals. More than half of the top 25 institutions (in rankings) are located in the United States, and Harvard University accounted the highest number of articles and citations among all institutions.

CONCLUSION

The results reported here may aid clinicians and researchers to better understand the worldwide contribution of anesthesiology research activities over 2 decades.

Turkish Publications in Science Citation Index and Citation Index-Expanded Indexed Journals in the Field of Anaesthesiology: A Bibliographic Analysis

OBJECTIVE

Our study aimed to assess Turkish publications in Science Citation Index (SCI) and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) indexed journals in the field of 'anaesthesiology'.

METHODS

Journals related to 'anaesthesiology' in the Science Citation Index-Expanded database of 'Thomson Reuter Web of Science' were searched. The search engine of Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science (WoS) was used in the advanced mode by typing 'IS=ISSN number' to identify publications in the journal. By typing 'IS=ISSN number AND CU=Turkey', Turkish papers on anaesthesiology were found. If Turkish and non-Turkish authors had collaborated, the article was included in the search when the corresponding author had provided a Turkey-based address. The catalogue information and statistics were used to determine Turkish publications as the percentage of total publications and the annual mean number of Turkish publications. In WoS, 'SU=anesthesiology' was used to determine the number, country, year and topic distributions of publications from 1975 to date and within the last 10 years. The citation numbers and h-indices were determined based on the country for publications within the last 10 years.

RESULTS

From 1975 to the early 2000s Turkey was 20^th in the list of countries with highest number of publications on anaesthesiology, however in the last 10 years Turkey moved up to 18^th place. Its mean citation number has been 4.64, and it remains the 2^nd lowest country pertaining to citations among the 22 countries with the most number of publications. According to the percentage of publications in the field of anaesthesiology, the journals with highest rate of Turkish publications were Revista Brasileira de Anestesiologia, European Journal of Anaesthesiology and Journal of Anesthesia.

CONCLUSION

In the field of anaesthesiology, the highest number of articles from Turkey was published in Revista Brasileira de Anestesiologia, European Journal of Anaesthesiology and Journal of Anesthesia. The mean citation number from these publications was 4.64.

Publication Trends in Acupuncture Research: A 20-Year Bibliometric Analysis Based on PubMed

OBJECTIVE

Acupuncture has become popular and widely practiced in many countries around the world. Despite the large amount of acupuncture-related literature that has been published, broader trends in the prevalence and scope of acupuncture research remain underexplored. The current study quantitatively analyzes trends in acupuncture research publications in the past 20 years.

METHODS

A bibliometric approach was used to search PubMed for all acupuncture-related research articles including clinical and animal studies. Inclusion criteria were articles published between 1995 and 2014 with sufficient information for bibliometric analyses. Rates and patterns of acupuncture publication within the 20 year observational period were estimated, and compared with broader publication rates in biomedicine. Identified eligible publications were further analyzed with respect to study type/design, clinical condition addressed, country of origin, and journal impact factor.

RESULTS

A total of 13,320 acupuncture-related publications were identified using our search strategy and eligibility criteria. Regression analyses indicated an exponential growth in publications over the past two decades, with a mean annual growth rate of 10.7%. This compares to a mean annual growth rate of 4.5% in biomedicine. A striking trend was an observed increase in the proportion of randomized clinical trials (RCTs), from 7.4% in 1995 to 20.3% in 2014, exceeding the 4.5% proportional growth of RCTs in biomedicine. Over the 20 year period, pain was consistently the most common focus of acupuncture research (37.9% of publications). Other top rankings with respect to medical focus were arthritis, neoplasms/cancer, pregnancy or labor, mood disorders, stroke, nausea/vomiting, sleep, and paralysis/palsy. Acupuncture research was conducted in 60 countries, with the top 3 contributors being China (47.4%), United States (17.5%), and United Kingdom (8.2%). Retrieved articles were published mostly in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) journals with impact factors ranging between 0.7 and 2.8 in the top 20 journals, followed by journals specializing in neuroscience, pain, anesthesia/analgesia, internal medicine and comprehensive fields.

CONCLUSION

Acupuncture research has grown markedly in the past two decades, with a 2-fold higher growth rate than for biomedical research overall. Both the increases in the proportion of RCTs and the impact factor of journals support that the quality of published research has improved. While pain was a consistently dominant research focus, other topics gained more attention during this time period. These findings provide a context for analyzing strengths and gaps in the current state of acupuncture research, and for informing a comprehensive strategy for further advancing the field.

Ireland's contribution to urology and nephrology research in the new millennium: a bibliometric analysis

INTRODUCTION

Bibliometrics is the statistical analysis of written publications. Bibliometric analyses have been performed across a range of biomedical disciplines. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of Irish urology and nephrology research and to analyse how this compares internationally.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective bibliometric analysis of the top 20 ranking journals in the field of "Urology and Nephrology" based on their 5 years impact factor, as obtained from the ISI Journal Citation Report database over the 15-year study period, 2000-2015. Utilising the Pubmed database, a search phrase was constructed using country of affiliation, year of publication and journal title. The abstracts of the Irish publications identified were analysed for their institution of origin, article theme and content.

RESULTS

A total of 67,740 article abstracts were analysed over the 15 years study period. As anticipated, the USA accounted for the largest number of publications by a country [28,206 (41.64 % of all articles)]. Ireland contributed 347 articles in total (0.51 % of all articles); however, ranking according to population per million was 13th worldwide. Ireland's contribution to urology and nephrology research was highest in the BJUI-British Journal of Urology International [76 articles (21.90 % of Irish total)].

CONCLUSION

We believe this study to be the largest bibliometric analysis in the field of urology and nephrology internationally. This study provides a novel overview of the current Irish urology- and nephrology-related research, and examines how our results compare within the international community.

Worldwide productivity in the hand and wrist literature: A bibliometric analysis of four highly cited subspecialty journals

OBJECTIVE

Hand and wrist research has recently shown obvious progress. The quantity and quality of publications from different nations, however, have not been analyzed. In our study, we aimed to assess the characteristics of worldwide productivity in hand and wrist literature using highly cited subspecialty journals.

METHODS

Literature search using the Web of Science database was conducted to identify hand and wrist articles in four highly cited subspecialty journals from 2005 to 2014. The number of articles, impact factors and citations were analyzed to evaluate the contributions of different countries. Publication activity was adjusted for the countries by population size.

RESULTS

A total of 4268 publications were identified. The number of articles showed a significant increase of 2.10-fold between 2005 and 2014 (p = 0.0001). North America, West Europe, and East Asia were the most prolific areas. The majority of publications (92.03%) were from high-income countries, 7.97% from middle-income countries, and no publications from lower-income countries. The United States published the most articles (53.89%), followed by United Kingdom (6.51%), Japan (6.14%), Canada (3.70%), and China (3.37%). Articles originating from the United States showed the greatest number of total 5-year impact factors (5y-IF) (4059.56) and total citations (17,998). When normalized to population size, United States ranked the first (7.16), followed by Sweden (6.53), and Netherlands (5.72). However, Netherlands (1.893) had the highest mean 5y-IF, followed by Germany (1.884) and Australia (1.883). Sweden had the highest average citations per article (11.38), followed by Germany (9.63), and Australia (9.08).

CONCLUSIONS

The number of publications of hand and wrist research shows a significant increase during the past 10 years. The United States is the most productive country in hand and wrist literature. However, some European countries and Australia may have higher quality of articles according to mean 5y-IF and mean citations per article.

Publishing Trends in Two American Journals in Anesthesiology-Results of an 80-Year Geographical Survey

BACKGROUND

We examined publication trends in two major American journals devoted to anesthesia to understand the geographical distribution of authorship and attempt to decipher the factors that influence this distribution.

METHODS

In addition to bibliometric information for all articles published in Anesthesiology between 1941 and 2010 and Anesthesia & Analgesia between 1931 and 2010, we also collected information about the country, continent, and medical school or institution from which the articles were submitted.

RESULTS

The top five countries that published research in these journals were the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, and France. More than 50% of the published articles were submitted from the United States. However, US publications have steadily and significantly declined over the decades. Contributions from Europe and Asia (especially China) have shown marked increases. US spending on research, especially biomedical research, has remained essentially unchanged and declined in some areas, whereas it has increased steadily in some of the other countries we discuss.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a significantly increased prominence in publishing from countries other than the United States. The reasons for this include the convenience of Web-based submission, an increased desire by researchers from around the world to publish in journals considered prestigious, English becoming the preferred language of communication amongst academicians in science, the advent of globalization, and a decrease in public research funding in the United States relative to other countries.

Worldwide Research Productivity in the Field of Arthroscopy: A Bibliometric Analysis

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate the quantity and quality of articles from different countries involving arthroscopy to investigate the characteristics of worldwide research productivity.

METHODS

Web of Science was searched for arthroscopy articles published between 1999 and 2013. The numbers of articles and citations were analyzed to assess the contributions of different countries. Publication activity was adjusted by country population and gross domestic product (GDP).

RESULTS

A total of 12,553 articles were published worldwide. The time trend for the number of articles showed an increase of 2.27-fold between 1999 and 2013. North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Asia were the most productive areas. High-income countries published 90.86% of the articles; middle-income countries, 9.11%; and lower-income countries, only 0.02%. The United States published the most articles (35.40%), followed by Germany (9.53%), the United Kingdom (6.80%), the Republic of Korea (5.45%), and Japan (4.76%), and had the highest total citations (78,161). However, Sweden had the highest mean citations (35.56), followed by Switzerland (23.39) and the Netherlands (18.90). There were positive correlations between the number of publications and population/GDP (P < .01). When normalized to population, Switzerland ranked the highest, followed by Finland and Sweden. When adjusted by GDP, the Republic of Korea ranked first, followed by Finland and Turkey.

CONCLUSIONS

The number of publications on arthroscopy increased significantly from 1999 to 2013, with a more than 2-fold increase in volume. The United States was the most productive country as measured by total publications, but when adjusted for population, Switzerland published the highest number of articles, followed by Finland and Sweden. When publications were adjusted for GDP, the Republic of Korea ranked first, with Finland second and Turkey third.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Bibliometric analysis allows us to understand contributions of different world regions in scientific research in the field of arthroscopy and gives insight into the quantity and quality of articles related to arthroscopy.

Worldwide productivity in the field of foot and ankle research from 2009-2013: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited journals

Background

Significant growth has been observed in the field of foot and ankle research in recent years. However, bibliometric studies concerning the quantity and quality of articles published in foot and ankle journals are scarce. This study aimed to reveal the characteristics of national productivity in the field of foot and ankle research and to provide a general picture of foot and ankle research for surgeons and researchers.

Methods

Web of Science was searched for foot and ankle articles in 4 highly cited journals from 2009 to 2013. The number of total articles and citations were collected to evaluate the contribution of different countries. Publication activity was adjusted for the countries by population size and gross domestic product (GDP).

Results

A total number of 2083 articles were published worldwide. North America, West Europe, Australia and East Asia were the most productive world regions. High income countries published 90.35% of articles, middle-income 9.60%, and low-income just 0.05%. The United States published the largest number of articles (1025/2083, 49.2%), followed by the United Kingdom (221/2083, 10.6%), Australia (92/2083, 4.4%), and had the highest total citations (3631). However, Canada had the highest average citations per article (5.0), followed by Australia (4.6) and Switzerland (4.2). There were positive correlations between the total number of publications and population/GDP (p < 0.01). When normalized to population size, Switzerland ranked the highest, followed by Australia, and the United Kingdom. When adjusted for GDP, Switzerland ranked the highest, followed by United Kingdom, and South Korea.

Conclusions

The United States is the most productive country in the field of foot and ankle research. However, Australia, some smaller European and Asian countries may be more productive relative to their size.

Anaesthesia in underdeveloped world: Present scenario and future challenges

The overall mortality and morbidity in underdeveloped countries are still unchanged and preventable risks factors constitute the main burden. Among these, anaesthesia-related mortality is largely preventable. Various contributory factors related to human resources, technical resources, education/teaching system and other utilities needs further attention in poor income group countries. Therefore, we have made an attempt to address all these issues in this educational article and have given special reference to those factors that might gain importance in (near) future. Proper understanding of anaesthesia-related resources, their overall impact on health care system and their improvisation methods should be thoroughly evaluated for providing safer anaesthesia care in these countries which would certainly direct better outcome and consequently influence mortality.

National representation in the plastic and reconstructive surgery literature: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited journals

BACKGROUND

In recent years, significant growth has been observed in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery. However, the national productivity to the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery remains unknown. We therefore intended to reveal national contributions in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

METHODS

Articles published in the 6 highly cited journals in plastic and reconstructive surgery in 2005-2009 were retrieved from the Medline and Web of Science. The number of total articles, the per capita numbers, 5-year impact factors (5y-IF), and citations were tabulated to assess the contribution of different countries.

RESULTS

A total number of 5745 articles were published in the 6 journals from 2005 to 2009 worldwide. North America, West Europe, and East Asia were the most productive regions. High-income countries published 79.72% of the total articles. United States (USA) published most of the articles during 2005 to 2009 (2015/5745, 35.07%), followed by United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, and China. Besides, USA also had the highest total 5y-IF (5010.76), the highest mean 5y-IF (2.49), and the highest total citations (11,788). When normalized to population size, Sweden had the highest number of articles per million persons (12.26), followed by Switzerland (8.02) and Netherlands (7.77).

CONCLUSIONS

USA is the most productive country in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery. When normalized to population size, some European countries might be more productive.

Assessing the national productivity in subspecialty critical care medicine journals: a bibliometric analysis

PURPOSE

In recent years, significant growth has been seen in the subspecialty critical care medicine. However, the national productivity to the subspecialty critical care medicine remains unknown. We therefore intended to reveal the national contribution in the subspecialty critical care medicine journals.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Articles published in 20 highly cited journals in subspecialty critical care medicine from 2006 to 2010 were retrieved from Web of Science and PubMed. The number of total articles and randomized, controlled trials, the per capita numbers, total impact factors (IFs), and citations were tabulated to assess the contribution of different countries.

RESULTS

A total number of 17,667 articles were published in the 20 journals from 2006 to 2010 worldwide. North America, West Europe, and East Asia were the most productive regions. High-income countries published 89.68% of the total articles. The United States published the most number of articles in 2006 to 2010 (6659/17,667, or 37.69%), followed by United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Australia. Besides, the United States also had the most number of randomized, controlled trials (260), the highest total impact factors (27,206.55), and the highest total citations (84,170). When normalized to population size, Australia had the highest number of articles per million population, followed by Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium.

CONCLUSION

The United States is the most productive country in the subspecialty critical care medicine. When normalized to population size, Australia and some European countries might be more productive.

Bibliometric analysis of the volume and visibility of Saudi publications in leading anesthesia journals

Context:

The quantity and quality of publications by a country indicates its contribution towards scientific development.

Aims:

To examine the volume and impact of the Saudi anesthesia publications in leading anesthesia journals.

Settings and Design:

Fifteen leading anesthesia journals were identified. Saudi publications in these journals from 1991 to 2011 were searched in the databases of Pubmed and Web of Knowledge.

Methods:

For each article, the journal and time of publication, the type of the article and the affiliation of the first author were analysed. The visibility of the publications was related to the number of citations and was analysed for the years 2000 to 2008. Data were compared with selected Arab countries.

Statistical Analysis:

Two visibility indices were used. The first relates the average citations per Saudi articles in the years following publication to the average global citations. The second relates the average citations per Saudi article in the two years following publication to the impact factor of the journal of publication. The h-index was used as a measure of both volume and visibility.

Results:

Anesthesiologists from Saudi affiliations published 173 documents in leading 15 anesthesia journals betweent the years 1991-2011, with a marked increase in the last 6 years. Anesthesia and Analgesia journal published 24% of Saudi articles. Saudi universities contributed to 55% of Saudi publications. The visibility of the Saudi articles was 0.7 of the international figures.

Conclusions:

Saudi anesthesia publications are increasing in recent years. Although the visibility of Saudi publications is below international figures, it compares favourably to Arab countries.

A bibliometric analysis of geographic publication variations in the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia from 1990 to 2011

OBJECTIVE

The bibliometrics of the anesthesiology literature has shifted substantially during the past 3 decades. The present authors analyzed the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia (JCVA) at selected time intervals from 1990 to 2011 to quantify temporal variations in geographic publication patterns. The authors also determined whether previously described reductions in North American research productivity were accompanied by similar decreases in the number of other forms of publication in JCVA.

DESIGN

An observational study.

SETTING

Internet analysis.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The number of research articles, case reports and conferences, review articles, and letters in each issue of the journal were quantified in each of 4 time intervals consisting of consecutive 4-year periods (1990-1993, 1996-1999, 2002-2005, and 2008-2011). Forty-three countries published a total of 2,587 articles (ie, 1,141 research articles, 735 case reports, 175 review articles, and 536 letters) during the 4 time periods examined. Progressive decreases in the percentage of research articles, case reports, and letters, but not review articles, from North America were observed over time. Significant increases in the percentage of research articles and letters contributed by European authors in 2008 to 2011 were observed compared with 1990 to 1993. The percentage of all publications from the Middle East and Australasia increased significantly, whereas South America and Africa were relatively minor contributors to JCVA throughout the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

The present bibliometric analysis indicates that JCVA has changed from a journal that primarily published work from countries in North America and Europe to one in which the Middle East and Australasia now make a substantial number of contributions. These results suggest that JCVA has evolved into a truly international journal since its inception in 1987.

Recent trends in publication of basic science and clinical research by United States investigators in anesthesia journals

BACKGROUND

United States anesthesia research production declined sharply from 1980-2005. Whether this trend has continued despite recent calls to improve output is unknown. We conducted an observational internet analysis to quantify American basic science and clinical anesthesia research output in 14 anesthesia journals with impact factors greater than one at three-year intervals during the past decade.

RESULTS

American investigators published 1,486 (21.7%) of the total of 6,845 research articles identified in anesthesia journals in 2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010. Approximately two-thirds of all US articles were published in Anesthesiology and Anesthesia and Analgesia. There was a significant correlation (r2 = 0.316; P = 0.036) between the number of articles published by American authors in each anesthesia journal and the corresponding journal's impact factor in 2010. Significantly (P < 0.05; Pearson's Chi-square) fewer basic science articles were published in 2007 and 2010 compared with 2001. US clinical research output also declined in 2007 (201; 15.7%) compared with 2001 (266; 19.1%) and 2004, but an increase occurred in 2010 (279; 21.8%, P < 0.05 versus 2007).

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that US anesthesia research output continued to decrease from 2001 to 2007. An increase in clinical but not basic science research was observed in 2010 compared with 2007, suggesting that a modest recovery in clinical research production may have begun.

National representation in the emergency medicine literature: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited journals

OBJECTIVE

In recent years, significant growth has been seen in the field of emergency medicine. However, the national productivity to the field of emergency medicine remains unknown. This study aimed to reveal the national contributions in the field of emergency medicine.

METHODS

Articles published in 13 highly cited journals in emergency medicine in 2006 to 2010 were retrieved from PubMed and Science Citation Index. The number of total articles, the per-capita numbers, impact factors (IFs), and citations were tabulated to assess the contribution of different countries.

RESULTS

A total number of 9775 articles were published in the 13 journals from 2006 to 2010 worldwide. West Europe, North America, and East Asia were the most productive regions. High-income countries published 87.9% of the total articles. United States published the most number of articles in 2006 to 2010 (4523/9775, or 46.3%), followed by United Kingdom, Australia, China, and Canada. Besides, United States also had the highest total IFs (8729.73) and total citations (22,117). When normalized to population size, Australia had the highest number of articles per million persons (26.00). Germany had the highest mean IF (2.27) and mean citations (6.87).

CONCLUSIONS

United States is the most productive country in the field of emergency medicine.

A bibliometric search of citation classics in anesthesiology

BACKGROUND

Articles cited counts are catalogued and help identify landmark papers. This study provides a citation classics of anesthesiology literature using the framework of subspecialties to provide a review of well-developed areas of research in anesthesiology.

METHODS

A comprehensive list of the most-cited articles in anesthesia was compiled using a bibliometric database and general search terms such as "anesthesia" as well as subspecialty-specific search terms. Queries were reviewed for relevance to anesthesiology practice, categorized by subspecialty, and ranked according to their citation counts.

RESULTS

The database resulted in 2519 articles published between 1945 and 2008. The specialty areas most represented were chronic pain medicine (11%), pharmacology (9%), and pain sciences (9%).

CONCLUSIONS

This citations classic allows for advances in anesthesiology and its subspecialties to be highlighted as well to provide useful manuscripts to guide patient care, direct future research, and serve as sources for future academic pursuit.

Representation of less-developed countries in Pharmacology journals: an online survey of corresponding authors

BACKGROUND

Scientists from less-developed countries (LDC) perceive that it is difficult to publish in international journals from their countries. This online survey was conducted with the primary aim of determining the opinion of corresponding authors of published papers in international Pharmacology journals regarding the difficulties in publications and their possible solutions.

METHODS

The titles of all Pharmacology journals were retrieved from Pubmed. 131 journals were included in study. The latest issue of all journals was reviewed thoroughly. An online survey was conducted from the corresponding authors of the published papers who belonged to LDC.

RESULTS

584 out 1919 papers (30.4%) originated from the LDC. 332 responses (response rate; 64.5%) were received from the authors. Approximately 50% the papers from LDC were published in journals with impact factor of less than 2. A weak negative correlation (r = -0.236) was observed between journal impact factor and the percentage of publications emanating from LDC. A significant majority of the corresponding authors (n = 254; 76.5%) perceived that it is difficult to publish in good quality journals from their countries. According to their opinion, biased attitude of editors and reviewers (64.8%) is the most important reason followed by the poor writing skills of the scientists from LDC (52.8%). The authors thought that well-written manuscript (76.1%), improvement in the quality of research (69.9%) and multidisciplinary research (42.9%) are important determinants that may improve the chances of publications.

CONCLUSIONS

The LDC are underrepresented in publications in Pharmacology journals. The corresponding authors of the published articles think that biased attitude of the editors as well as the reviewers of international journals and the poor writing skills of scientists are the major factors underlying the non-acceptance of their results. They also think that the improvement in the writing skills and quality of research will increase the chances of acceptance of their works in international journals.