Top-cited vs. highest altmetric-ranked shoulder arthroplasty articles: Does citation rate reflect online relevance...

To compare the top 20 most cited articles with the 20 highest ranked by altmetric performance related to shoulder arthroplasty.

Ongoing research is crucial for improving surgical outcomes. Citation count has long been the primary method of quantifying the importance and influence of research. However, the scientific forum is changing. Altmetric analysis offers a complementary approach to capture broader media of dissemination and influence.

The top-20 studies with the highest AAS (Altmetric Attention Score) were retrieved from http://www.altmetric.com/. Web of Science database was used to retrieve the 20 most cited studies. Study groups were compared based on respective AAS, citation counts, citation density, level of evidence and impact factor of the journal's identified.

The top-20 altmetric articles had an average AAS of 144.95 ± 139.38 (47-567) and average citation count of 25.32 ± 34.93 (0-141). The top-20 bibliometric articles had an average citation count of 167.45 ± 52.99 (107-270) and an average AAS of 10.4 ± 10.95 (0-47). The most cited article (270) had an AAS of 10. The highest AAS (567) had zero citations. The bibliometric search had one level I study. There was no level I study on the altmetric list and no level II study on either list. There was no significant correlation between AAS and citations.

There is no significant correlation between the AAS and citation count among the most influential paper relating to shoulder arthroplasty. Altmetrics highlighted recent, clinically focused work. Whereas bibliometrics captured studies with established academic impact. Combining both approaches offers a clearer picture of which research is shaping current discussion and underpinning long-term evidence. There is a paucity of high-quality research among the most influential studies from the past decade relating to shoulder arthroplasty.