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Differences in Highly-Cited and Lowly-Cited Manuscripts in Plastic Surgery
Carter J Boyd1, Jason J Patel1, Edgar Soto1
1School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
The Journal of Surgical Research
|April 14, 2020
Summary
Highly cited plastic surgery articles are more likely to be clinical, focus on aesthetic surgery, and have larger author lists. Low citation articles often focus on microsurgery and lack plastic surgery authors. Understanding these differences aids research design.
Area of Science:
- Plastic Surgery Research
- Bibliometrics
- Scientific Publication Analysis
Background:
- Limited research exists comparing highly cited versus lowly cited journal articles.
- Understanding these differences can guide researchers in designing and conducting impactful studies.
- This study focuses on identifying key characteristics differentiating citation rates in plastic surgery literature.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the characteristics of highly cited (HC) and low citation (LC) primary research articles in plastic surgery.
- To identify factors associated with citation success in the field.
- To provide insights for improving research design and increasing the impact of scientific publications.
Main Methods:
- Bibliometric analysis of primary research articles published between 1998-2008 in four plastic surgery journals.
- Identification of LC articles (0-1 citation with >=10-year lag) and comparison with an equal number of HC articles.
- Statistical analysis using Student t-tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, chi-square tests, and Fisher exact tests (P < 0.05).
Main Results:
- LC articles were more likely to be non-clinical, focus on microsurgery, and lack plastic surgery authors.
- HC articles were more likely to have higher sample sizes, focus on aesthetic/cosmetic surgery, and include more authors from other disciplines.
- HC articles also had more references, manuscript pages, and words in the abstract compared to LC articles.
Conclusions:
- Significant qualitative and quantitative differences exist between highly and lowly cited articles in plastic surgery.
- Non-clinical focus and microsurgery specialization were associated with lower citation rates.
- Researchers should consider these differentiating factors when designing studies to enhance research impact.
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