Original Contribution
Top-cited articles in emergency medicine

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2006.01.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Study Objective

Our purpose was to identify and examine the characteristics of the most frequently cited articles in the field of emergency medicine (EM).

Methods

Top-cited EM articles in 9 EM journals were identified by searching the computerized database of the Science Citation Index Expanded and the Web of Science (1972 to present). Median citation numbers, authors' nationalities, publication year, and fields of study were described and discussed. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare groups.

Results

All top-cited articles were published during 1972 and 2002. We identified 100 top-cited articles published in 6 EM journals, led by Annals of Emergency Medicine (66) and American Journal of Emergency Medicine (22). Toxicology, traumatology, resuscitation medicine, and cardiovascular medicine were the primary focus of study. The median citation number for these top-cited articles was 102 (range, 71-335).

Conclusion

Our analysis gives an encyclopedic review of citation frequency of top-cited articles published in EM journals, which may provide information for those who want to find the history, evolution, and areas of high-impact research activities of EM.

Introduction

Governments, funding agencies and promotion committees, and academic institutions are increasingly interested in measuring the research quality and productivity of individual scientists as an indication of their scholarly excellence. Citation rating using data from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), owned by the Thomson Corporation of Toronto, is now a popular method to evaluate the impact on the scientific community of individual scientists and research institutions. The argument is that the greater the value of the article, the more times it will be cited, and that the citation number is thus viewed as a direct measure of the recognition that this publication has had in its scientific field [1]. Although there is obviously considerable debate regarding the value of citation rates [2], [3], the analysis of citation rates may give an encyclopedic review of citation frequency and key areas of scientific interest. Emergency medicine (EM) has undergone substantial developments in the past few decades and is now evolving at a rapid pace. However, a systemic analysis of top-cited articles in the field of EM is not yet available.

The aim of the present study was to therefore identify and examine the characteristics, such as ranking, publication year, publishing journal, publication type, and authorship, of the most frequently cited articles published in EM journals.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

We selected 9 of the 11 journals listed under the subject category “Emergency Medicine” on the Journal Citation Report 2003 for analysis, which included Annals of Emergency Medicine, Academic Emergency Medicine, American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Resuscitation, Journal of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine Journal, Unfallchirurg, Injury, and Pediatric Emergency Care. We excluded Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation for analysis because its contents are beyond the scope of most

Top-cited articles in EM journals

Two hundred thirty-seven articles were retrieved that were published in EM journals and that were cited 50 times or more. Using the Web of Science update of April 25, 2005, we selected the top 100 most frequently cited articles from the list for further analysis and ranking (Table 1). The most cited article received 335 citations and the 3 least cited articles received 71 citations. The median citation number of these 100 articles was 102 (range, 71-335). The majority (72 articles) received

Discussion

Citations of an article are only one limited measure of its effect and usefulness, but also currently the only one that is quantifiable. Our study identified and characterized the 100 top-cited articles published on EM journals in the past 3 decades, providing an encyclopedic view of the citation frequency of these top-cited articles. The information may help those who want to find the history, evolution, and areas of intensive research activities of EM.

Previous study found that the impact

References (14)

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