Characterizing Research Impact in Ophthalmology: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Bibliometrics
• Research Impact Assessment

Background:

• Assessing the impact of ophthalmic research is hindered by a lack of standardized evaluation methods.
• Differentiating truly impactful research requires consistent and reliable metrics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the most frequently utilized metrics for evaluating research impact in ophthalmology.
• To identify trends in the application of these metrics across different levels (article, author, institution, journal, country).

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive scoping review was conducted following Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
• 1100 studies published between 1955 and 2023 were screened across multiple databases.
• 77 studies meeting eligibility criteria were included, with quality assessed using the modified Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence.

Main Results:

• Seventeen distinct metrics were identified, with Citation Count (30%), Publication Count (22%), Impact Factor (17%), and Hirsch index (14%) being the most prevalent.
• The majority of metrics (82%) were quantitative and focused on article-level (26%) and journal-level (23%) impact.
• Most included studies (94%) provided Level 4 evidence.

Conclusions:

• The current landscape of ophthalmic research impact assessment lacks standardization.
• A need exists for a more comprehensive and uniform methodology to accurately evaluate the significance of ophthalmic research.