Top-cited articles in traumatic brain injury

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Traumatic Brain Injury Research

Background:

• Bibliometric analysis of top-cited articles can reveal research trends and inform future scientific endeavors.
• Understanding influential publications in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is crucial for directing research efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize the most cited articles in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• To analyze trends in TBI research based on citation impact and publication focus.

Main Methods:

• Utilized publicly available software to identify the top 50 TBI articles by lifetime citations and top 50 by annual citation rates.
• Categorized 73 unique articles by primary focus: outcome predictors, pathology, treatment, guidelines, epidemiology, assessment, or experimental models.

Main Results:

• Articles with the most lifetime citations (mean publication 1990) focused on severe TBI predictors (34%).
• Articles with the highest annual citation rates (mean publication 2003) focused on mild TBI treatment (22%) and mild TBI (36%).
• A notable shift towards mild TBI and treatment research is evident in recent high-impact publications.

Conclusions:

• Recent influential TBI research shows an intensified focus on mild TBI, potentially due to increased awareness in sports/war and rising global incidence.
• The increased focus on TBI treatment research may stem from the limited efficacy of current interventions.
• This bibliometric review offers a snapshot of influential TBI literature, highlighting current research trajectories.