A Study of Citations: Bibliometric Analysis of the 100 Top-cited Publications on Panic Disorder

The number of times a publication is cited in scientific research papers is often considered to estimate its contribution to biomedical literature. Although extensive research has been conducted on panic disorder over time, attempts at a citation analysis have yet to be made to the best of our knowledge. The aim of this study was to understand the trends of research on panic disorder from the top 100 most-cited publications worldwide.

A citation analysis of the top 100 panic disorder publications was conducted, using Harzing's Publish or Perish to identify articles from Google Scholar. The study analyzed citation patterns, authorship, publication types, and themes. Exclusions comprised non-scientific materials. No ethics approval was needed as it involved published data, not human subjects.

Publications with more than 500 citations were 11, and those with more than 400 citations, known as citation classics, were 27. Fifty-nine publications were funded, of which 14 (23.8%) were clinical trials and 24 (40.7%) were observational studies. The maximum number of articles was published between 1990 and 1999 (n = 45), followed by 2000 and 2009 (n = 26). The h-index of the first author showed a significant positive correlation with the number of citations of the paper (Spearman's ρ = 0.480, P = 0.02). Among research papers, the maximum were observational studies (n = 44), followed by 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and eight non-randomized clinical trials. Additionally, among RCTs (n = 19), 17 were focused on the management theme.

This bibliometric analysis is an invaluable resource for scholars and students who might be interested in learning about the developments and patterns in the field of panic disorder research.