Open AccessA Bibliometric Analysis on Top‐Cited Articles in Pain Research
Author(s) -
Chuang KunYang,
Ho YuhShan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/pme.12308
Subject(s) - citation , bibliometrics , science citation index , proxy (statistics) , medicine , library science , citation analysis , political science , psychology , statistics , computer science , mathematics
Objective The field of pain‐related research has gained more attention as the prevalence of chronic pain increased over the years. The objective of this research was to identify highly cited papers, as well as contributors, to pain‐related research. Design Pain‐related articles published from 1900 to 2011 were screened, and highly cited papers, with at least 100 citations since publication, were identified and selected for a bibliometric analysis. The total number of papers, authorship, and collaboration statistics are presented for countries, institutions, and authors. To assess contributions, a new indicator, the major contributor index ( MCI ), was used. Citation trends for all papers, as well as for top papers, are presented. Results A total of 7,327 articles, 2.4% of all pain‐related articles, had received at least 100 citations since publication. In recent decades, top‐cited articles have reached a citation peak more quickly, and have shown a more‐rapid decreasing trend, compared with top‐cited articles from earlier decades. The leading countries were U nited S tates, UK , C anada, and G ermany. The leading institutions were H arvard U niversity, U niversity of C alifornia, S an F rancisco, U niversity of T exas, and U niversity of W ashington. MCI varied among leading institutions, as well as among individual authors. Conclusions An indicator like the MCI can provide a proxy for the contributions made by an individual or institution. It reflects the independent research ability and leadership. In future evaluations of institution or individual performances, the MCI should be included, together with the number of total papers, to provide a better profile of research performance.