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Publication of cardiac surgery research papers in top cardiovascular journals
Mario Gaudino1, Mahmoud Morsi1, Irbaz Hameed1
1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York.
Insights
Cardiac surgery research is underrepresented in top cardiovascular journals, comprising only a small fraction of publications. Studies suggest observational designs may contribute to this disparity.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular research
- Publication analysis
- Bibliometrics
Background:
- Top cardiovascular journals are key venues for disseminating research.
- Understanding research publication trends is crucial for scientific progress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the publication frequency of cardiac surgery research in leading cardiovascular journals over a five-year period.
- To compare the representation of cardiac surgery studies with other cardiology subspecialties.
Main Methods:
- A bibliometric review of articles published between January 2014 and March 2020 in Circulation, European Heart Journal, JACC, and JAMA Cardiology.
- Data extracted included publication journal, study design, research area, country of origin, and intervention type.
- Editorial board affiliations were analyzed to assess disciplinary representation.
Main Results:
- Cardiac surgery articles constituted a small percentage of total publications across the four journals (2.0%–6.2%).
- Significant variations in publication rates were observed among the journals (P < .001).
- Cardiac surgery publications were less frequent than interventional cardiology studies (P < .001).
Conclusions:
- Cardiac surgery research is underrepresented in major cardiovascular journals.
- Differences in publication rates exist between journals.
- The observational nature of many cardiac surgery studies may contribute to their lower publication rates.
Background And Aim:
To evaluate the publication rate of articles related to cardiac surgery in the four main cardiovascular journals over the last 5 years.
Methods:
A bibliometric review of all full-length articles published between January 2014 and March 2020 in the top four cardiovascular journals (Circulation, European Heart Journal (EHJ), Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), and JAMA Cardiology) was conducted. For each eligible article in the four journals, the journal of publication, study design, area of interest, country of origin, and type of intervention tested (for cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology studies) were extracted. The affiliations of all editorial board members were identified from journal websites or from online searches and recorded as from cardiac surgery, cardiology, or another discipline. Correlations between variables were evaluated.
Results:
A total of 4835 articles were reviewed. Cardiac surgery studies amounted to 6.2% (104) of total research publications in JACC, 4.4% (74) in Circulation, 3.6% (13) in JAMA Cardiology, and 2.0% (22) in EHJ (P < .001). The percentage of cardiac surgery publications was significantly less than interventional cardiology publications (P < .001).
Conclusions:
Cardiac surgery studies represent only a small minority of the articles published in the top cardiovascular journals over the last 5 years, with significant differences between individual journals. Cardiac surgery studies were more often observational and this may constitute one important reason for their under-representation.
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