[Surgical research and publications in Germany--an analysis of 1984-1994]

The present study analyses a selection of German and American surgical and cancer research journals from the years 1984 and 1994. The aim of the study was to evaluate the amount of publications by German surgeons in these journals. Furthermore, any influence of the impact factor on the publication criteria was analyzed. German surgical journals showed a high percentage increase in the impact factor but are, in absolute numbers, still significantly behind the American journals. In parallel, German surgeons are still the major contributors to German language journals, but increasingly publish in the American ones as well. The impact factor is one of the major selection criteria on to which journal a paper shall be submitted.