Evaluation of Research Productivity Among Academic Oculoplastic Surgeons Using the Relative Citation Ratio

The objective was to evaluate research productivity among oculoplastic surgeons and provide relative citation ratio (RCR) benchmark data for the field.

In this cross-sectional bibliometric analysis, fellowship-trained academic oculoplastic surgeons at Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited institutions were individually indexed using the National Institutes of Health iCite database. Publication count, mean RCR (mRCR) score, and weighted RCR score were collected for each author between February and May 2023 and included PubMed-listed articles from 1980 to 2022. Data were compared by gender, career duration, academic rank, and acquisition of a doctor of philosophy.

Two hundred ninety-nine academic oculoplastic surgeons from 113 institutions were indexed. These physicians produced highly impactful research with a median publication count of 20 (interquartile range, 8-45), median mRCR of 0.91 (interquartile range, 0.65-1.24), and median weighted RCR of 16.27 (interquartile range, 5.61-41.10). Academic rank and career duration were associated with increased publication count, mRCR, and weighted RCR. Weighted RCR scores were greater among male faculty, but no differences were observed between genders for publication count or mRCR score. Female faculties were underrepresented in more senior academic ranks and earlier career start years.

Current academic oculoplastic surgeons have comparable mRCR values relative to the National Institutes of Health-standard RCR value of 1. These benchmark data serve as a more accurate gauge of research impact within the oculoplastic surgery community and can be used to inform self, institutional, and departmental evaluations. In addition, the mRCR may provide an accurate metric for quantifying research productivity among historically underrepresented groups that are disadvantaged by time-dependent factors such as the number of publications.