Top 100 cited paramedicine papers: A bibliometric study.

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics
• Academic Publishing
• Paramedicine

Background:

• Understanding the impact of scholarly articles is crucial for emerging professions like paramedicine.
• A bibliometric analysis of paramedicine literature was previously unavailable.
• The field of paramedicine is experiencing rapid growth in its primary literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze the 100 most cited articles in the field of paramedicine.
• To provide insights into the foundational literature of paramedicine.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive search of the Scopus database was conducted in August 2020.
• Titles and abstracts were screened, and citation counts, journal names, publication years, and countries of origin were extracted.
• Manual assessment included study focus (clinical/non-clinical), author demographics (sex, profession), and study design (e.g., randomized controlled trials).

Main Results:

• The median citation count for the top 100 paramedicine articles was 58.
• These highly cited articles were published across 48 journals, with "Resuscitation" and "Prehospital Emergency Care" being most prominent.
• The leading articles originated from 16 countries, were predominantly authored by medical doctors, and 73% focused on clinical aspects, with 26% being randomized controlled trials.

Conclusions:

• The analysis highlights the growing body of knowledge supporting paramedicine's professionalization.
• Paramedicine articles achieve high citation counts and are published widely.
• There is a notable underrepresentation of contributions from paramedic practitioners and female researchers in the top-cited literature.