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The impact of review articles
Catherine M Ketcham1, James M Crawford
1Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, PO Box 100275, Gainesville, FL 32610-0275, USA. ketcham@pathology.ufl.edu
Summary
The pathology literature is growing rapidly, with reviews increasing faster than original articles. Many pathology reviews are poorly cited, potentially harming scientific progress and making good reviews harder to find.
Area of Science:
- Bibliometrics
- Scientific Publishing
- Pathology Literature Analysis
Background:
- The scientific literature is expanding, leading to a rise in review articles.
- The function and impact of this growing body of review literature warrant examination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the growth trends of review articles in pathology.
- To investigate journal publication patterns and citation rates of pathology reviews.
- To assess the impact of review articles on journal impact factors.
Main Methods:
- Defined pathology literature by keywords in title, abstract, or keywords.
- Tracked the growth of original articles and reviews from 1991-2006.
- Analyzed citation rates of pathology reviews published in 2005.
- Compared impact factors of pathology journals with and without review articles (2000-2006).
Main Results:
- Pathology reviews increased 5.6-fold from 1991-2006, outpacing original articles (2.3-fold).
- Approximately 90% of pathology articles and reviews were published outside dedicated pathology journals.
- Only 21% of pathology reviews in pathology journals (2005) received over 10 citations.
- Review articles significantly boosted impact factors for some journals (e.g., JP), but original articles largely drove overall impact.
Conclusions:
- The rapid proliferation of pathology reviews, many with low citation rates, raises concerns about scientific quality and discoverability.
- Poorly cited reviews may obscure high-quality research and potentially propagate errors.
- Authors and editors should critically evaluate the production and selection of review articles to maximize their benefit to the scientific community.
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