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Sleeping beauties in the otolaryngology–head & neck surgery literature
Author(s) -
Coelho Daniel H.,
Kirk Andrew,
Miller Derrick,
Hasan Kaazim,
Fenton John E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.28058
Subject(s) - otorhinolaryngology , medicine , head and neck surgery , head and neck , relevance (law) , bibliometrics , surgery , computer science , library science , political science , law
“Sleeping Beauties” (SBs) are articles that receive little attention in the literature for many years after publication but suddenly “awaken” at a later date to greatly increased relevance. This effort represents the first attempt at identifying SBs within the otolaryngology literature. Methods The Web of Science Database was queried for all papers under the section “Otolaryngology” between 1945 and 2007. All papers were assigned a “Beauty Coefficient” (B), based on an a priori formula. Three groups were analyzed: 1) highest overall SBs, 2) clinically significant SBs (papers with greater than 100 total citations), and 3) modern SBs (published 1988 and later). Results 80,532 papers were identified, with SB able to be calculated in 79,523. Papers spanned a wide array of topics within the Otolaryngology literature. Unlike analysis of SBs in other disciplines, no obvious patterns or themes appeared consistently within or between any of the three groups. Conclusions This study represents the first known analysis of SBs in our field. While no obvious patterns or unifying themes were observed, this analysis highlights the clinical impact of SBs and underscores the idea that in this surgical field, important ideas may be proposed “ahead of their time.” Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope , 130:609–614, 2020