Associations Between Academic Rank and Advanced Bibliometric Indices Among United States Academic Radiologists

This study aimed to evaluate associations between traditional and advanced bibliometric indices with academic rank for radiologists in the United States.

Faculty web pages were searched to classify 538 members of the Association of University Radiologists as assistant (n = 212), associate (n = 128), or full (n = 198) professors. Radiologists' publication and citation records were extracted from Scopus to compute the following indices: publication count, citation count, h-index, i-10 index, h_c-index, m-quotient, e-index, and g-index. Analysis of variance, multivariable logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were performed.

All indices were significantly different among the three groups (P ≤.001), progressively increasing with increasing rank (eg, mean publication count of 17, 41, and 128 among assistant, associate, and full professors, respectively; mean citation count of 205, 687, and 3622, respectively; mean h-index of 5, 11, and 27, respectively). At multivariable analysis, the h-index (reflecting publications and citations) was a strong significant independent positive predictor of associate (β=+0.32, P <.001) or full professor (β=+0.26, P <.001) status, whereas the m-quotient (adjusted h-index that is greater for more rapid publication) was a strong significant independent negative predictor of associate (β=-1.87, P = .009) or full professor (β =-4.97, P <.001) status. The models exhibited moderate goodness-of-fit (r² = 0.534-0.655; P <.001). The model for predicting at least associate professor achieved area under the curve 0.876 (sensitivity 74.6%, specificity 88.8%). The model for predicting full professor achieved area under the curve 0.925 (sensitivity 85.5%, specificity 86.1%).

When controlling for the h-index, more rapid publication, as indicated by the m-quotient, was negatively associated with radiologists' academic rank, indicating the additional influence of career duration in promotions decisions.