- Email: [email protected]
Citation classics in acute pancreatitis
Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Pancreatology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pan
Original article
Citation classics in acute pancreatitis Feng Cao 1, Jia Li 1, Ang Li, Yu Fang, Fei Li* Department of General Surgery, Xuanwu hospital, #45, Chang Chun Street, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 7 February 2012 Received in revised form 23 April 2012 Accepted 2 May 2012
Background/Objectives: The number of times an article is cited in scientific journals reflects its impact on a specific biomedical field or specialty and reflects the impact of the authors’ creativity. Our purpose was to characterize the most frequently cited articles about acute pancreatitis. Methods: We utilized the 2010 edition of Journal Citation Reports and Social Sciences Citation Index database to determine the most frequently cited articles published after 1956. The 100 most frequently cited articles were selected. Articles were evaluated for several characteristics including number of citations, publication time, country of origin, institution, journal, publication type of article and authorship. Results: The most frequently cited article received 1281 citations and the least frequently cited article received 163 citations, with a mean of 266.65 citations per article. These citation classics were published in 31 high-impact journals, led by Gastroenterology. Of the 100 articles, 56 were clinical observational studies, 20 concerned basic science and 15 were review articles. The articles originated from 16 countries, with the United States contributing 47 articles; 56 institutions produced these 100 top-cited articles, led by University of Ulm (9 publications) and New York University (9 publications); 23 persons authored 3 or more of the top-cited articles led by Imrie (10 publications). Conclusion: “Citation classics” about acute pancreatitis are detected in both experimental and clinical research field, which provide a historical perspective on the scientific progress and allow for recognition of important advances in this specialty. Copyright Ó 2012, IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier India, a division of Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Citation classic Acute pancreatitis Publication Scientometrics
1. Introduction A citation classic means an article that ranks in the highest percentile of cited works published in a journal. The first “citation classics” were characterized by Garfield in 1987, when he listed the “top 100” most-cited articles ever published in JAMA [1]. Since then, the scientometrics, analyzing the output of scientific literature, have attracted more and more interesting from clinical experts. Citation analysis is a bibliometric field that examines the association between authors and their journal articles, and the academic institutions, funding agencies, and the public are now currently increasingly interested in assessing the research quality and productivity of individual researchers by citation analysis. The number of times an article has been cited provides an indication of the impact it has on the specialty, and the implication being that the greater the value of the article, the more times it will be cited.
* Correspondening author. Tel.: þ86 10 83198731; fax: þ86 10 83198958. E-mail address: [email protected] (F. Li). 1 F.Cao and J. Li contributed equally to this work.
Recently, there have been a few attempts to identify and analyze citation classics for various specialties [2e5]. In addition, several journals published their own citation classics [1,6,7]. However, the analysis of top-cited articles originating from acute pancreatitis has not yet been reported. The purpose of our present study was therefore to assess whether or not citation classics exist in acute pancreatitis and to determine the characteristics. 2. Methods A search was performed on the bibliometric database Web of Science for articles including the keyword “acute pancreatitis”. This search, performed on November 21, 2011, includes all articles that are tracked by the database. The search returned more than 50,000 articles that were published between 1956 and November 2011. The 100 most frequently cited articles were selected for further review. We performed a PubMed search to obtain the texts of articles that were available online. The titles and abstracts of the articles were reviewed to estimate whether they are related to acute pancreatitis. We analyzed the articles and calculated the data according to the following predefined items: number of citations, publication time,
1424-3903/$ e see front matter Copyright Ó 2012, IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier India, a division of Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pan.2012.05.001
326
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
country of origin, institution, journal, publication type of article, and authorship. 3. Results Four hundred and forty-three articles about acute pancreatitis were retrieved that were published in related journals and that were cited 100 times or more. Using the Web of Science update of November 21, 2011, we selected the top 100 most frequently cited
articles with a direct relation to the field of acute pancreatitis for further analysis and ranked them according to the number of citations they received. The most frequently cited article received 1281 citations and the least frequently cited article received 163 citations (Table 1). The mean number of citations per article was 266.65. Twenty-three articles were cited more than 300 times. These frequently cited articles were published from 1971 to 2008. The oldest article was published in 1971 (Sarles, GUT, 1971) and the most recent article in 2008 (Besselink, LANCET, 2008). The
Table 1 Citation classics pertinenting to acute pancreatitis. Rank
Article title
No. of citations
1
A clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis. Summary of the International Symposium on Acute pancreatitis, Atlanta, Ga, September 11 through 13, 1992a Prognostic signs and the role of operative management in acute pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis: value of CT in establishing prognosis Bacterial contamination of pancreatic necrosis. A prospective clinical study Acute Pancreatitis Controlled trial of urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic sphincterotomy versus conservative treatment for acute pancreatitis due to gallstones Acute interstitial pancreatitis in the rat induced by excessive doses of a pancreatic secretagogue Early treatment of acute biliary pancreatitis by endoscopic papillotomy Gallstone migration as a cause of acute pancreatitis The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis A single-centre double-blind trial of Trasylol therapy in primary acute pancreatitis A randomized multicenter clinical trial of antibiotic prophylaxis of septic complications in acute necrotizing pancreatitiswith imipenem Death due to acute pancreatitis. A retrospective analysis of 405 autopsy cases Early prediction of severity in acute pancreatitis by urinary trypsinogen activation peptide: a multicentre study IAP guidelines for the surgical management of acute pancreatitisa A better model of acute pancreatitis for evaluating therapy Acute necrotizing pancreatitis: Treatment strategy according to the status of infection Acute pancreatitis: prognostic value of CT APACHE-II score for assessment and monitoring of acute pancreatitis Early ERCP and papillotomy compared with conservative treatment for acute biliary pancreatitis Biliary sludge as a cause of acute pancreatitis Compared with parenteral nutrition, enteral feeding attenuates the acute phase response and improves disease severity in acute pancreatitis Experimental pancreatitis in the rat Sodium taurocholate-induced acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis Prognostic factors in acute pancreatitis Classification of pancreatitisa Enteral nutrition is superior to parenteral nutrition in severe acute pancreatitis: results of a randomized prospective trial Prognostic signs and nonoperative peritoneal lavage in acute pancreatitis Early antibiotic treatment in acute necrotising pancreatitis Early diagnosis of pancreatic infection by computed tomography-guided aspiration Mutations in the cationic trypsinogen gene are associated with recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis Prediction of outcome in acute pancreatitis: a comparative study of APACHE II, clinical assessment and multiple factor scoring systems The role of oxygen-derived free radicals in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis Etiological and prognostic factors in human acute pancreatitis: a review A prospective longitudinal study of observation versus surgical intervention in the management of necrotizing pancreatitis Gabexate for the prevention of pancreatic damage related to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitisa Inflammatory mediators in acute pancreatitis Probiotic prophylaxis in predicted severe acute pancreatitis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial The timing of biliary surgery in acute pancreatitis. Occult microlithiasis in ’idiopathic’ acute pancreatitis: prevention of relapses by cholecystectomy or ursodeoxycholic acid therapy Caerulein-induced acute necrotizing pancreatitis in mice: protective effects of proglumide, benzotript, and secretin Controlled clinical trial of selective decontamination for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis Elevation of serum interleukin-6 concentration precedes acute-phase response and reflects severity in acute pancreatitis Pancreatic ischaemia in experimental acute pancreatitis: mechanism, significance and therapy Necrosectomy and postoperative local lavage in necrotizing pancreatitis Imaging and intervention in acute pancreatitisa Natural course of acute pancreatitis Comparison of the safety of early enteral vs parenteral nutrition in mild acute pancreatitis Role of cathepsin B in intracellular trypsinogen activation and the onset of acute pancreatitis Acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis (massive necrosis) with fat necrosis induced in mice by DL-ethionine fed with a choline-deficient diet ERCP- and endoscopic sphincterotomy-induced pancreatitis Specificity of increased renal clearance of amylase in diagnosis of acute pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis: a lethal disease of increasing incidence CT of fluid collections associated with pancreatitis The pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. The source and role of oxygen-derived free radicals in three different experimental models Supramaximal caerulein stimulation and ultrastructure of rat pancreatic acinar cell: early morphological changes during development of experimental pancreatitis
1281
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
828 645 609 570 563 518 472 431 425 406 358 352 337 328 322 322 321 315 315 306 304 301 293 292 292 287 287 276 276 273 272 263 263 256 255 245 244 236 233 229 229 228 225 220 220 220 219 216 215 213 210 210 209 205 204
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
327
Table 1 (continued ) Rank
Article title
57
Randomized clinical trial of specific lactobacillus and fibre supplement to early enteral nutrition in patients with acute pancreatitis A controlled trial of Trasylol in the treatment of acute pancreatitis The potential role of procalcitonin and interleukin 8 in the prediction of infected necrosis in acute pancreatitis Acute necrotizing pancreatitis Diagnosis, objective assessment of severity, and management of acute pancreatitis e Santorini consensus conferencea Gallstone pancreatitis: biliary tract pathology in relation to time of operation C-reactive protein, antiproteases and complement factors as objective markers of severity in acute pancreatitis. Trypsinogen activation peptides assay in the early prediction of severity of acute pancreatitis Relationship between severity, necrosis, and apoptosis in five models of experimental acute pancreatitis Role of interleukin-6 in mediating the acute phase protein response and potential as an earlymeans of severity assessment in acute pancreatitis Early surgery for acute gallstone pancreatitis: evaluation of a systematic approach Relationship of necrosis to organ failure in severe acute pancreatitis Revised classification of pancreatitis. Report of the Second International Symposium on the Classification of Pancreatitis in Marseille, France, March 28e30, 1984a Alteration of membrane fusion as a cause of acute pancreatitis in the rat Biliary surgery in the same admission for gallstone-associated acute pancreatitis Early versus late necrosectomy in severe necrotizing pancreatitis Human pancreatic tissue concentration of bactericidal antibiotics Acute pancreatitis: analysis of factors influencing survival Fatal pancreatitis, a consequence of excessive leukocyte stimulation? Role of substance P and the neurokinin 1 receptor in acute pancreatitis and pancreatitis-associated lung injury The role of peritoneal lavage in severe acute pancreatitis T helper 2 (Th2) T cells induce acute pancreatitis and diabetes in immune-compromised nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice A prospective study to determine the efficacy of antibiotics in acute pancreatitis Pathology of acute and chronic pancreatitis Inflammatory mediators and cytokines e new aspects of the pathophysiology and assessment ofseverity of acute pancreatitis? Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist decreases severity of experimental acute pancreatitis Tissue-specific cytokine production during experimental acute pancreatitis e A probable mechanism for distant organ dysfunction Enteral compared with parenteral nutrition: a meta-analysis Controlled clinical trial of peritoneal lavage for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis The role of neutrophils and platelet-activating factor in mediating experimental pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis: Assessment of severity with clinical and CT evaluationa Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitisa Evaluation of prophylactic antibiotics in acute pancreatitis The role of the gut in the development of sepsis in acute pancreatitis Randomized, double-blind phase II trial of Lexipafant, a platelet-activating factor antagonist, inhuman acute pancreatitis Prophylactic antibiotic treatment in patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis: A placebo-controlled, double-blind trial Endotoxaemia and serum tumour necrosis factor as prognostic markers in severe acute pancreatitis Meta-analysis of parenteral nutrition versus enteral nutrition in patients with acute pancreatitis A comparison of alcoholic pancreatitis in rat and man The role of phospholipase A in acute pancreatitis Percutaneous CT-guided catheter drainage of infected acute necrotizing pancreatitis: Techniques and results Interleukin 10 reduces the severity of acute pancreatitis in rats Identification of pancreas necrosis in severe acute pancreatitis: imaging procedures versus clinical staging Bacterial infection and extent of necrosis are determinants of organ failure in patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis
58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 a
No. of citations 204 203 203 203 199 196 196 196 194 193 191 191 190 186 184 184 183 182 180 180 178 176 174 174 173 173 173 173 172 171 171 170 169 169 169 169 168 167 166 166 165 164 163 163
Clinical guidelines and consensus about acute pancreatitis.
decade from 1990 to 1999 produced the most citation classics with 47 articles, followed by 26 articles from 1980 to 1989, 15 articles from 1970 to 1979, and 12 from 2001 to 2008 (Table 2,Fig. 1). The 100 top-cited articles originated from 16 countries, with the United States producing 47 articles, followed by Germany with 19 and UK with 16, 37 articles were from non-English-speaking countries (Table 3). Altogether, 56 institutions produced these 100 top-cited articles. The leading 11 appear in Table 4, with University of Ulm (9 publications), New York University (9 publications), and Royal Infirmary (5 publications) leading the list. Seven articles were authored by a single author; 23 authors published 3 or more of the top-cited articles. Table 5 presents a list of these most frequent authors, which is obviously led by Imrie, who authored 10 classic papers and Beger, who authored 9 classic papers. The top-cited articles were published in 31 journals, led by the Gastroenterology (12 papers), followed by Br J Surg (11 papers), Ann surg(10 papers), N Engl J Med (9 papers), Gut (9 papers), Lancet (6 papers) and Radiology (4 papers) (Table 6).
Of the 100 articles, 56 were clinical studies, 20 concerned basic science and 15 were review articles. The other 9 papers were guidelines and consensuses. Levels of evidence from Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine (2009 edition) were used to clarify the clinical studies. There were 19 studies at level 1b, and 1,20,4,12 studies at level 1c, 2b, 3b and 4, respectively (Fig. 2). The primary purpose of the 56 clinical papers included evaluation of a therapy strategy (22 studies), description of clinical outcomes (12 studies), evaluation of diagnostic modality (11 studies), evaluation of a medicine (8 studies), depiction of a disease process (2 studies) and description of a epidemiology (1 study). 4. Discussion Citation analysis can helps us recognize important advances in research about acute pancreatitis and adds useful perspective on historical developments in our specialty. It can also supply quantitative information about authors, institutions, and journals that is helpful to identify classic works and high-impact journals. Now, the
328
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
Table 2 Top 5 citation classics in every decade from 1971 to 2008. Decade
Rank
Author
Title
Journal
Level of evidencea or Study type
1971e1979
1
Ranson JH
Surg Gynecol Obstet
2b
828
2
Lampel M Acosta JM Imrie CW
Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histol N Engl J Med Br J surg
Experimental research 2b 1b
518
3 4
431 406
5
Ranson JH
Surg Gynecol Obstet
4
287
1
Beger HG
Gastroenterology
2b
609
2
Neoptolemos JP
Lancet
1b
563
3
Renner IG
Dig Dis Sci
4
352
4 5
Balthazar E J Larvin M
Radiology Lancet
4 2b
321 315
1
Bradley EL 3rd
Arch Surg
Consensus
2 3 4
Balthazar EJ Steinberg W Fan ST
Radiology N Engl J Med N Engl J Med
4 Review 1c
645 570 472
5
Norman J
Am J Surg
Review
425
1
Neoptolemos JP
Lancet
1b
337
2 3
Uhl W Buchler MW
Pancreatology Ann surg
Guideline 2b
328 322
4 5
Banks PA Bhatia M
Prognostic signs and the role of operative management in acute pancreatitis Acute interstitial pancreatitis in the rat induced by excessive doses of a pancreatic secretagogue Gallstone migration as a cause of acute pancreatitis A single-centre double-blind trial of Trasylol therapy in primary acute pancreatitis Prognostic signs and nonoperative peritoneal lavage in acute pancreatitis Bacterial contamination of pancreatic necrosis. A prospective clinical study Controlled trial of urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic sphincterotomy versus conservative treatment for acute pancreatitis due to gallstones Death due to acute pancreatitis. A retrospective analysis of 405 autopsy cases Acute pancreatitis: prognostic value of CT APACHE-II score for assessment and monitoring of acute pancreatitis A clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis. Summary of the International Symposium on Acute pancreatitis, Atlanta, Ga, September 11 through 13, 1992. Acute pancreatitis: value of CT in establishing prognosis Acute Pancreatitis Early treatment of acute biliary pancreatitis by endoscopic papillotomy The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis Early prediction of severity in acute pancreatitis by urinary trypsinogen activation peptide: a multicentre study IAP guidelines for the surgical management of acute pancreatitis Acute necrotizing pancreatitis: Treatment strategy according to the status of infection Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitis Inflammatory mediators in acute pancreatitis
Am J Gastroenterol J Pathol
Guideline Review
255 245
1980e1989
1990e1999
2000e2008
a
No. of citation
1281
Base on levels of evidence from Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine.
number of citations of an individual paper is widely used to assess the impact of the paper and to measure the quality of a journal. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric analysis to reveal the top citations in the field of research about acute pancreatitis.
The list of the top-cited articles identifies authors and topics that reflect major advances about acute pancreatitis during the last 50 years, although some articles have been subjected to retrospective criticism for inaccuracies or unwarranted conclusions. Nevertheless, this list provides a fascinating insight into the history and
Fig. 1. Number of citation classics published per year.
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330 Table 3 Countries of origin of the top 100 cited articles.
329
Table 5 Most frequent authors of the top 100 cited articles.
Rank
Country
No. of articles
1 2 3 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
USA Germany UK Finland Greece Italy Netherlands Argentina Belgium France Japan Spain Switzerland Hong Kong Mexico Hungary
47 19 16 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
development of acute pancreatitis research. For example, we find at position one Bradley reported the clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis, which taken place of the widely-used pathologic based classification; at position two and three Ranson and Balthazar developed the score system based on clinicobiochemical manifestation and CT finding; at position four professor Beger found the role of becteria in development of pancreatic necrosis; while at position six and eight with determination of the role of endoscopic therapy in acute pancreatitis. These articles are just a few examples of some of the milestone publications that have had an important impact on clinic practice in diagnosis and treatment of acute pancreatitis. In addition, we also summarized the top 5 classic papers in every decade from 1970 to 2011. Six of the selected citation classics were published in Lancet and N Engl J Med, which shows the highest influence of these two journals in the field of clinic research. Looking into these citation classics, we can expect other most important finding in each decade besides the papers mentioned before. For example, we can find the evidence of gallstone in development of acute pancreatitis; the role of ERCP in treatment and the source of the now widely used criteria distinguishing severe pancreatitis from mild, which is APACHE-II score more than eight. The finding that the top most-cited articles came from the Unites States was anticipated and is consistent with the origins of the top 100 citation classics in the fields of acute pancreatitis research. Also, 8 of the 11 top productive institutions lie in the USA. These findings confirm the USA’s overwhelming impact on medical science research because of its large population and the abundant financial resources available to the scientific community. It is also reported that American authors tended to cite local papers and for European authors to publish in American journals [8] and that U.S. reviewers prefer U.S. papers [9]. Table 4 Institutions of origin with three or more top-cited articles. Rank
Institutions
No. of articles
1 1 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
University of Ulm New York University Royal Infirmary University of Washington Brigham and Women’s Hospital Emory University Johns Hopkins Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital University of Heidelberg University of Southern California University of South Florida
9 9 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Author
No. of articles
Position on author list
Imrie CW
10
Beger HG
9
Ranson JH Buchler M Banks PA Cameron JL Balthazar EJ Warshaw AL Norman J Isenmann R Bradley EL 3rd Wilson C Rau B Heath DI Block S Nevalainen T Neoptolemos JP Bittner R Bassi C Malfertheiner P McMahon MJ Mayer JM Shenkin A
7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
1st1, 2nd2, 3rd2, 4th1, 5th1, 6th1, 8th1, 9th1 1st3, 3rd1, 5th1, 6th1, 7th1, 9th1, 10th1 1st5, 2nd1, 4th1 1st2, 2nd1, 4th2, 19th1 1st2, 2nd1, 7th1, 9th1 3rd4, 4th1 1st4 1st1, 3rd1, 6th1, 7th1 1st3 1st2, 4th1 1st2, 4th1 1st2, 6th1 1st1, 2nd2 1st1, 2nd2 1st1, 3rd1,4th1 1st1, 3rd1,5th1 1st1, 5th1, 18th1 2nd1, 3rd2 2nd1, 3rd1, 4th1 2nd1, 5th1, 8th1 2nd2, 6th1 3rd1, 4th1 3rd1, 5th1, 7th1
Another observation is not surprising. The list of frequent authors on citation classics gives a sampling of some of the world’s best recognized experts in the field of pancreatitis research; however, not all famous experts were mentioned, which is consistent with an earlier study in another medical specialty [2e4]. Nevertheless it is tempting to speculate that publishing citation classics will help one to ascend the academic staircase, journal editors may consider inviting such authors to publish subsequent work or to write review articles in their journals. In many crossdiscipline studies of top-cited articles, methodological publications and review articles predominate [10], thus reflecting the need of clinicians for a critical evaluation and summary of the rapidly expanding medical literature. In addition, referring indirectly to a multitude of additional references is another good reason for citing methodological or review publications, given the restrictions on the maximum number of allowed references of manuscripts used today by many journals. We were therefore surprised to see that original research articles accounted for 76% of all citation classics. It is known that the true impact and fame of an article often cannot be accurately assessed for at least two decades [10]. The sum of the citations of an article is logically dependent on its publication year, since citations accumulate over time. Scientific papers usually are not cited until 1 or 2 years after their publication and generally reach a maximum after 3e10 years, at which time they continue to be cited but at a lower rate [11]. The decline of the citation rate is described as the half-life of a publication and is defined as the time when the citation rate has dropped to half of the maximum. This normal life span of a publication shows that evaluating the rank and significance of recent publications is, at best, limited, thus, articles that are not listed here will eventually deserve classic status. Another limitation is so called “incomplete citing.” The assumption here is that scientists and authors are supposed to credit those in their reference lists who influenced them most significantly in their work. However, the truth is that many authors try to support, as best and as easily as they can, the interpretation of their own results when attempting to convince or “persuade” the readers [12]. The absolute number of citations an article has accumulated, therefore, cannot be used as a sole measurement of its “importance”.
330
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
Table 6 Classical journals where citation classics published. Rank
Journal
No. Of articles
Published citation classics
Impact factor (2010)
1 2 3 4 4 6 7 8 8
Gastroenterology Br J Surg Ann surg N Engl J Med Gut Lancet Radiology Am J Gastroenterol Surg Gynecol Obstet
12 11 10 9 9 6 4 3 3
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank
8 8
Am J Surg Dig Dis Sci
12.032 4.443 7.474 53.486 10.614 33.633 6.069 6.882 4.241(now named J AM COLL SURGEONS) 2.680 2.029
3 3
4,29,30,40,41,43,68,69,73,86,92,98 11,26,31,44,45,57,58,63,71,91,100 16,17,32,39,42,55,62,74,77,79 5,8,9,20,21,35,52,60,85 21,24,25,53,59,66,93,95,99 6,14,19,28,38,64 3,18,46,87 33,36,88 2,12,27
Rank 10,34,72 Rank 13,70,83
Fig. 2. Study types of citation classics and levels of clinical researches.
Citation frequency is still considered as one of several valid and legitimate indicators in identifying classic work regardless of many criticisms and biases. These top-cited articles in research about acute pancreatitis identify topics, authors, and institutions that contributed to major advances in this specialty and allow for the recognition of major advances and supply a historic perspective on the progress of research about acute pancreatitis. Conflict of interest There is no conflict of interest. References [1] Garfield E. 100 citation classics from the Journal of the American medical association. JAMA 1987;257:52e9. [2] Lipsman N, Lozano AM. The most cited works in major depression: the ‘Citation classics’. J Affect Disord 2011;134:39e44.
[3] Brandt JS, Downing AC, Howard DL, Kofinas JD, Chasen ST. Citation classics in obstetrics and gynecology: the 100 most frequently cited journal articles in the last 50 years. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;203:355. e1e7. [4] Li Z, Wu FX, Yang LQ, Sun YM, Lu ZJ, Yu WF. Citation classics in main pain research journals. J Anesth 2012;26:85e93. [5] O’Connor DJ, Gargiulo 3rd NJ, Scher LA, Jang J, Lipsitz EC. One hundred vascular surgery citation "classics" from the surgical literature. J Vasc Surg 2011;53:1150e6. [6] Picknett T, Davis K. The 100 most-cited articles from JMB. J Mol Biol 1999;293: 171e6. [7] Hall GM. BJA citation classics 1945e1992. Br J Anaesth 1998;80:4e6. [8] Paladugu R, Schein M, Gardezi S, Wise L. One hundred citation classics in general surgical journals. World J Surg 2002;26:1099e105. [9] Lin AM. US and non-US submissions. JAMA 1998;280:246e7. [10] Dubin D, Hafner AW, Arndt KA. Citation classics in clinical dermatologic journals. Citation analysis, biomedical journals, and landmark articles, 1945e1990. Arch Dermatol 1993;129:1121e9. [11] Marx W, Schier H, Wanitschek M. Citation analysis using online databases: feasibilities and shortcomings. Scientometrics 2001;52:59e82. [12] MacRoberts MH, MacRoberts BR. Citation analysis and the science policy arena. Trends Biochem Sci 1989;14:8e13.
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Pancreatology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pan
Original article
Citation classics in acute pancreatitis Feng Cao 1, Jia Li 1, Ang Li, Yu Fang, Fei Li* Department of General Surgery, Xuanwu hospital, #45, Chang Chun Street, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 7 February 2012 Received in revised form 23 April 2012 Accepted 2 May 2012
Background/Objectives: The number of times an article is cited in scientific journals reflects its impact on a specific biomedical field or specialty and reflects the impact of the authors’ creativity. Our purpose was to characterize the most frequently cited articles about acute pancreatitis. Methods: We utilized the 2010 edition of Journal Citation Reports and Social Sciences Citation Index database to determine the most frequently cited articles published after 1956. The 100 most frequently cited articles were selected. Articles were evaluated for several characteristics including number of citations, publication time, country of origin, institution, journal, publication type of article and authorship. Results: The most frequently cited article received 1281 citations and the least frequently cited article received 163 citations, with a mean of 266.65 citations per article. These citation classics were published in 31 high-impact journals, led by Gastroenterology. Of the 100 articles, 56 were clinical observational studies, 20 concerned basic science and 15 were review articles. The articles originated from 16 countries, with the United States contributing 47 articles; 56 institutions produced these 100 top-cited articles, led by University of Ulm (9 publications) and New York University (9 publications); 23 persons authored 3 or more of the top-cited articles led by Imrie (10 publications). Conclusion: “Citation classics” about acute pancreatitis are detected in both experimental and clinical research field, which provide a historical perspective on the scientific progress and allow for recognition of important advances in this specialty. Copyright Ó 2012, IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier India, a division of Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Citation classic Acute pancreatitis Publication Scientometrics
1. Introduction A citation classic means an article that ranks in the highest percentile of cited works published in a journal. The first “citation classics” were characterized by Garfield in 1987, when he listed the “top 100” most-cited articles ever published in JAMA [1]. Since then, the scientometrics, analyzing the output of scientific literature, have attracted more and more interesting from clinical experts. Citation analysis is a bibliometric field that examines the association between authors and their journal articles, and the academic institutions, funding agencies, and the public are now currently increasingly interested in assessing the research quality and productivity of individual researchers by citation analysis. The number of times an article has been cited provides an indication of the impact it has on the specialty, and the implication being that the greater the value of the article, the more times it will be cited.
* Correspondening author. Tel.: þ86 10 83198731; fax: þ86 10 83198958. E-mail address: [email protected] (F. Li). 1 F.Cao and J. Li contributed equally to this work.
Recently, there have been a few attempts to identify and analyze citation classics for various specialties [2e5]. In addition, several journals published their own citation classics [1,6,7]. However, the analysis of top-cited articles originating from acute pancreatitis has not yet been reported. The purpose of our present study was therefore to assess whether or not citation classics exist in acute pancreatitis and to determine the characteristics. 2. Methods A search was performed on the bibliometric database Web of Science for articles including the keyword “acute pancreatitis”. This search, performed on November 21, 2011, includes all articles that are tracked by the database. The search returned more than 50,000 articles that were published between 1956 and November 2011. The 100 most frequently cited articles were selected for further review. We performed a PubMed search to obtain the texts of articles that were available online. The titles and abstracts of the articles were reviewed to estimate whether they are related to acute pancreatitis. We analyzed the articles and calculated the data according to the following predefined items: number of citations, publication time,
1424-3903/$ e see front matter Copyright Ó 2012, IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier India, a division of Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pan.2012.05.001
326
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
country of origin, institution, journal, publication type of article, and authorship. 3. Results Four hundred and forty-three articles about acute pancreatitis were retrieved that were published in related journals and that were cited 100 times or more. Using the Web of Science update of November 21, 2011, we selected the top 100 most frequently cited
articles with a direct relation to the field of acute pancreatitis for further analysis and ranked them according to the number of citations they received. The most frequently cited article received 1281 citations and the least frequently cited article received 163 citations (Table 1). The mean number of citations per article was 266.65. Twenty-three articles were cited more than 300 times. These frequently cited articles were published from 1971 to 2008. The oldest article was published in 1971 (Sarles, GUT, 1971) and the most recent article in 2008 (Besselink, LANCET, 2008). The
Table 1 Citation classics pertinenting to acute pancreatitis. Rank
Article title
No. of citations
1
A clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis. Summary of the International Symposium on Acute pancreatitis, Atlanta, Ga, September 11 through 13, 1992a Prognostic signs and the role of operative management in acute pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis: value of CT in establishing prognosis Bacterial contamination of pancreatic necrosis. A prospective clinical study Acute Pancreatitis Controlled trial of urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic sphincterotomy versus conservative treatment for acute pancreatitis due to gallstones Acute interstitial pancreatitis in the rat induced by excessive doses of a pancreatic secretagogue Early treatment of acute biliary pancreatitis by endoscopic papillotomy Gallstone migration as a cause of acute pancreatitis The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis A single-centre double-blind trial of Trasylol therapy in primary acute pancreatitis A randomized multicenter clinical trial of antibiotic prophylaxis of septic complications in acute necrotizing pancreatitiswith imipenem Death due to acute pancreatitis. A retrospective analysis of 405 autopsy cases Early prediction of severity in acute pancreatitis by urinary trypsinogen activation peptide: a multicentre study IAP guidelines for the surgical management of acute pancreatitisa A better model of acute pancreatitis for evaluating therapy Acute necrotizing pancreatitis: Treatment strategy according to the status of infection Acute pancreatitis: prognostic value of CT APACHE-II score for assessment and monitoring of acute pancreatitis Early ERCP and papillotomy compared with conservative treatment for acute biliary pancreatitis Biliary sludge as a cause of acute pancreatitis Compared with parenteral nutrition, enteral feeding attenuates the acute phase response and improves disease severity in acute pancreatitis Experimental pancreatitis in the rat Sodium taurocholate-induced acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis Prognostic factors in acute pancreatitis Classification of pancreatitisa Enteral nutrition is superior to parenteral nutrition in severe acute pancreatitis: results of a randomized prospective trial Prognostic signs and nonoperative peritoneal lavage in acute pancreatitis Early antibiotic treatment in acute necrotising pancreatitis Early diagnosis of pancreatic infection by computed tomography-guided aspiration Mutations in the cationic trypsinogen gene are associated with recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis Prediction of outcome in acute pancreatitis: a comparative study of APACHE II, clinical assessment and multiple factor scoring systems The role of oxygen-derived free radicals in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis Etiological and prognostic factors in human acute pancreatitis: a review A prospective longitudinal study of observation versus surgical intervention in the management of necrotizing pancreatitis Gabexate for the prevention of pancreatic damage related to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitisa Inflammatory mediators in acute pancreatitis Probiotic prophylaxis in predicted severe acute pancreatitis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial The timing of biliary surgery in acute pancreatitis. Occult microlithiasis in ’idiopathic’ acute pancreatitis: prevention of relapses by cholecystectomy or ursodeoxycholic acid therapy Caerulein-induced acute necrotizing pancreatitis in mice: protective effects of proglumide, benzotript, and secretin Controlled clinical trial of selective decontamination for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis Elevation of serum interleukin-6 concentration precedes acute-phase response and reflects severity in acute pancreatitis Pancreatic ischaemia in experimental acute pancreatitis: mechanism, significance and therapy Necrosectomy and postoperative local lavage in necrotizing pancreatitis Imaging and intervention in acute pancreatitisa Natural course of acute pancreatitis Comparison of the safety of early enteral vs parenteral nutrition in mild acute pancreatitis Role of cathepsin B in intracellular trypsinogen activation and the onset of acute pancreatitis Acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis (massive necrosis) with fat necrosis induced in mice by DL-ethionine fed with a choline-deficient diet ERCP- and endoscopic sphincterotomy-induced pancreatitis Specificity of increased renal clearance of amylase in diagnosis of acute pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis: a lethal disease of increasing incidence CT of fluid collections associated with pancreatitis The pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. The source and role of oxygen-derived free radicals in three different experimental models Supramaximal caerulein stimulation and ultrastructure of rat pancreatic acinar cell: early morphological changes during development of experimental pancreatitis
1281
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
828 645 609 570 563 518 472 431 425 406 358 352 337 328 322 322 321 315 315 306 304 301 293 292 292 287 287 276 276 273 272 263 263 256 255 245 244 236 233 229 229 228 225 220 220 220 219 216 215 213 210 210 209 205 204
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
327
Table 1 (continued ) Rank
Article title
57
Randomized clinical trial of specific lactobacillus and fibre supplement to early enteral nutrition in patients with acute pancreatitis A controlled trial of Trasylol in the treatment of acute pancreatitis The potential role of procalcitonin and interleukin 8 in the prediction of infected necrosis in acute pancreatitis Acute necrotizing pancreatitis Diagnosis, objective assessment of severity, and management of acute pancreatitis e Santorini consensus conferencea Gallstone pancreatitis: biliary tract pathology in relation to time of operation C-reactive protein, antiproteases and complement factors as objective markers of severity in acute pancreatitis. Trypsinogen activation peptides assay in the early prediction of severity of acute pancreatitis Relationship between severity, necrosis, and apoptosis in five models of experimental acute pancreatitis Role of interleukin-6 in mediating the acute phase protein response and potential as an earlymeans of severity assessment in acute pancreatitis Early surgery for acute gallstone pancreatitis: evaluation of a systematic approach Relationship of necrosis to organ failure in severe acute pancreatitis Revised classification of pancreatitis. Report of the Second International Symposium on the Classification of Pancreatitis in Marseille, France, March 28e30, 1984a Alteration of membrane fusion as a cause of acute pancreatitis in the rat Biliary surgery in the same admission for gallstone-associated acute pancreatitis Early versus late necrosectomy in severe necrotizing pancreatitis Human pancreatic tissue concentration of bactericidal antibiotics Acute pancreatitis: analysis of factors influencing survival Fatal pancreatitis, a consequence of excessive leukocyte stimulation? Role of substance P and the neurokinin 1 receptor in acute pancreatitis and pancreatitis-associated lung injury The role of peritoneal lavage in severe acute pancreatitis T helper 2 (Th2) T cells induce acute pancreatitis and diabetes in immune-compromised nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice A prospective study to determine the efficacy of antibiotics in acute pancreatitis Pathology of acute and chronic pancreatitis Inflammatory mediators and cytokines e new aspects of the pathophysiology and assessment ofseverity of acute pancreatitis? Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist decreases severity of experimental acute pancreatitis Tissue-specific cytokine production during experimental acute pancreatitis e A probable mechanism for distant organ dysfunction Enteral compared with parenteral nutrition: a meta-analysis Controlled clinical trial of peritoneal lavage for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis The role of neutrophils and platelet-activating factor in mediating experimental pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis: Assessment of severity with clinical and CT evaluationa Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitisa Evaluation of prophylactic antibiotics in acute pancreatitis The role of the gut in the development of sepsis in acute pancreatitis Randomized, double-blind phase II trial of Lexipafant, a platelet-activating factor antagonist, inhuman acute pancreatitis Prophylactic antibiotic treatment in patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis: A placebo-controlled, double-blind trial Endotoxaemia and serum tumour necrosis factor as prognostic markers in severe acute pancreatitis Meta-analysis of parenteral nutrition versus enteral nutrition in patients with acute pancreatitis A comparison of alcoholic pancreatitis in rat and man The role of phospholipase A in acute pancreatitis Percutaneous CT-guided catheter drainage of infected acute necrotizing pancreatitis: Techniques and results Interleukin 10 reduces the severity of acute pancreatitis in rats Identification of pancreas necrosis in severe acute pancreatitis: imaging procedures versus clinical staging Bacterial infection and extent of necrosis are determinants of organ failure in patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis
58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 a
No. of citations 204 203 203 203 199 196 196 196 194 193 191 191 190 186 184 184 183 182 180 180 178 176 174 174 173 173 173 173 172 171 171 170 169 169 169 169 168 167 166 166 165 164 163 163
Clinical guidelines and consensus about acute pancreatitis.
decade from 1990 to 1999 produced the most citation classics with 47 articles, followed by 26 articles from 1980 to 1989, 15 articles from 1970 to 1979, and 12 from 2001 to 2008 (Table 2,Fig. 1). The 100 top-cited articles originated from 16 countries, with the United States producing 47 articles, followed by Germany with 19 and UK with 16, 37 articles were from non-English-speaking countries (Table 3). Altogether, 56 institutions produced these 100 top-cited articles. The leading 11 appear in Table 4, with University of Ulm (9 publications), New York University (9 publications), and Royal Infirmary (5 publications) leading the list. Seven articles were authored by a single author; 23 authors published 3 or more of the top-cited articles. Table 5 presents a list of these most frequent authors, which is obviously led by Imrie, who authored 10 classic papers and Beger, who authored 9 classic papers. The top-cited articles were published in 31 journals, led by the Gastroenterology (12 papers), followed by Br J Surg (11 papers), Ann surg(10 papers), N Engl J Med (9 papers), Gut (9 papers), Lancet (6 papers) and Radiology (4 papers) (Table 6).
Of the 100 articles, 56 were clinical studies, 20 concerned basic science and 15 were review articles. The other 9 papers were guidelines and consensuses. Levels of evidence from Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine (2009 edition) were used to clarify the clinical studies. There were 19 studies at level 1b, and 1,20,4,12 studies at level 1c, 2b, 3b and 4, respectively (Fig. 2). The primary purpose of the 56 clinical papers included evaluation of a therapy strategy (22 studies), description of clinical outcomes (12 studies), evaluation of diagnostic modality (11 studies), evaluation of a medicine (8 studies), depiction of a disease process (2 studies) and description of a epidemiology (1 study). 4. Discussion Citation analysis can helps us recognize important advances in research about acute pancreatitis and adds useful perspective on historical developments in our specialty. It can also supply quantitative information about authors, institutions, and journals that is helpful to identify classic works and high-impact journals. Now, the
328
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
Table 2 Top 5 citation classics in every decade from 1971 to 2008. Decade
Rank
Author
Title
Journal
Level of evidencea or Study type
1971e1979
1
Ranson JH
Surg Gynecol Obstet
2b
828
2
Lampel M Acosta JM Imrie CW
Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histol N Engl J Med Br J surg
Experimental research 2b 1b
518
3 4
431 406
5
Ranson JH
Surg Gynecol Obstet
4
287
1
Beger HG
Gastroenterology
2b
609
2
Neoptolemos JP
Lancet
1b
563
3
Renner IG
Dig Dis Sci
4
352
4 5
Balthazar E J Larvin M
Radiology Lancet
4 2b
321 315
1
Bradley EL 3rd
Arch Surg
Consensus
2 3 4
Balthazar EJ Steinberg W Fan ST
Radiology N Engl J Med N Engl J Med
4 Review 1c
645 570 472
5
Norman J
Am J Surg
Review
425
1
Neoptolemos JP
Lancet
1b
337
2 3
Uhl W Buchler MW
Pancreatology Ann surg
Guideline 2b
328 322
4 5
Banks PA Bhatia M
Prognostic signs and the role of operative management in acute pancreatitis Acute interstitial pancreatitis in the rat induced by excessive doses of a pancreatic secretagogue Gallstone migration as a cause of acute pancreatitis A single-centre double-blind trial of Trasylol therapy in primary acute pancreatitis Prognostic signs and nonoperative peritoneal lavage in acute pancreatitis Bacterial contamination of pancreatic necrosis. A prospective clinical study Controlled trial of urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic sphincterotomy versus conservative treatment for acute pancreatitis due to gallstones Death due to acute pancreatitis. A retrospective analysis of 405 autopsy cases Acute pancreatitis: prognostic value of CT APACHE-II score for assessment and monitoring of acute pancreatitis A clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis. Summary of the International Symposium on Acute pancreatitis, Atlanta, Ga, September 11 through 13, 1992. Acute pancreatitis: value of CT in establishing prognosis Acute Pancreatitis Early treatment of acute biliary pancreatitis by endoscopic papillotomy The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis Early prediction of severity in acute pancreatitis by urinary trypsinogen activation peptide: a multicentre study IAP guidelines for the surgical management of acute pancreatitis Acute necrotizing pancreatitis: Treatment strategy according to the status of infection Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitis Inflammatory mediators in acute pancreatitis
Am J Gastroenterol J Pathol
Guideline Review
255 245
1980e1989
1990e1999
2000e2008
a
No. of citation
1281
Base on levels of evidence from Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine.
number of citations of an individual paper is widely used to assess the impact of the paper and to measure the quality of a journal. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric analysis to reveal the top citations in the field of research about acute pancreatitis.
The list of the top-cited articles identifies authors and topics that reflect major advances about acute pancreatitis during the last 50 years, although some articles have been subjected to retrospective criticism for inaccuracies or unwarranted conclusions. Nevertheless, this list provides a fascinating insight into the history and
Fig. 1. Number of citation classics published per year.
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330 Table 3 Countries of origin of the top 100 cited articles.
329
Table 5 Most frequent authors of the top 100 cited articles.
Rank
Country
No. of articles
1 2 3 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
USA Germany UK Finland Greece Italy Netherlands Argentina Belgium France Japan Spain Switzerland Hong Kong Mexico Hungary
47 19 16 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
development of acute pancreatitis research. For example, we find at position one Bradley reported the clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis, which taken place of the widely-used pathologic based classification; at position two and three Ranson and Balthazar developed the score system based on clinicobiochemical manifestation and CT finding; at position four professor Beger found the role of becteria in development of pancreatic necrosis; while at position six and eight with determination of the role of endoscopic therapy in acute pancreatitis. These articles are just a few examples of some of the milestone publications that have had an important impact on clinic practice in diagnosis and treatment of acute pancreatitis. In addition, we also summarized the top 5 classic papers in every decade from 1970 to 2011. Six of the selected citation classics were published in Lancet and N Engl J Med, which shows the highest influence of these two journals in the field of clinic research. Looking into these citation classics, we can expect other most important finding in each decade besides the papers mentioned before. For example, we can find the evidence of gallstone in development of acute pancreatitis; the role of ERCP in treatment and the source of the now widely used criteria distinguishing severe pancreatitis from mild, which is APACHE-II score more than eight. The finding that the top most-cited articles came from the Unites States was anticipated and is consistent with the origins of the top 100 citation classics in the fields of acute pancreatitis research. Also, 8 of the 11 top productive institutions lie in the USA. These findings confirm the USA’s overwhelming impact on medical science research because of its large population and the abundant financial resources available to the scientific community. It is also reported that American authors tended to cite local papers and for European authors to publish in American journals [8] and that U.S. reviewers prefer U.S. papers [9]. Table 4 Institutions of origin with three or more top-cited articles. Rank
Institutions
No. of articles
1 1 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
University of Ulm New York University Royal Infirmary University of Washington Brigham and Women’s Hospital Emory University Johns Hopkins Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital University of Heidelberg University of Southern California University of South Florida
9 9 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Author
No. of articles
Position on author list
Imrie CW
10
Beger HG
9
Ranson JH Buchler M Banks PA Cameron JL Balthazar EJ Warshaw AL Norman J Isenmann R Bradley EL 3rd Wilson C Rau B Heath DI Block S Nevalainen T Neoptolemos JP Bittner R Bassi C Malfertheiner P McMahon MJ Mayer JM Shenkin A
7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
1st1, 2nd2, 3rd2, 4th1, 5th1, 6th1, 8th1, 9th1 1st3, 3rd1, 5th1, 6th1, 7th1, 9th1, 10th1 1st5, 2nd1, 4th1 1st2, 2nd1, 4th2, 19th1 1st2, 2nd1, 7th1, 9th1 3rd4, 4th1 1st4 1st1, 3rd1, 6th1, 7th1 1st3 1st2, 4th1 1st2, 4th1 1st2, 6th1 1st1, 2nd2 1st1, 2nd2 1st1, 3rd1,4th1 1st1, 3rd1,5th1 1st1, 5th1, 18th1 2nd1, 3rd2 2nd1, 3rd1, 4th1 2nd1, 5th1, 8th1 2nd2, 6th1 3rd1, 4th1 3rd1, 5th1, 7th1
Another observation is not surprising. The list of frequent authors on citation classics gives a sampling of some of the world’s best recognized experts in the field of pancreatitis research; however, not all famous experts were mentioned, which is consistent with an earlier study in another medical specialty [2e4]. Nevertheless it is tempting to speculate that publishing citation classics will help one to ascend the academic staircase, journal editors may consider inviting such authors to publish subsequent work or to write review articles in their journals. In many crossdiscipline studies of top-cited articles, methodological publications and review articles predominate [10], thus reflecting the need of clinicians for a critical evaluation and summary of the rapidly expanding medical literature. In addition, referring indirectly to a multitude of additional references is another good reason for citing methodological or review publications, given the restrictions on the maximum number of allowed references of manuscripts used today by many journals. We were therefore surprised to see that original research articles accounted for 76% of all citation classics. It is known that the true impact and fame of an article often cannot be accurately assessed for at least two decades [10]. The sum of the citations of an article is logically dependent on its publication year, since citations accumulate over time. Scientific papers usually are not cited until 1 or 2 years after their publication and generally reach a maximum after 3e10 years, at which time they continue to be cited but at a lower rate [11]. The decline of the citation rate is described as the half-life of a publication and is defined as the time when the citation rate has dropped to half of the maximum. This normal life span of a publication shows that evaluating the rank and significance of recent publications is, at best, limited, thus, articles that are not listed here will eventually deserve classic status. Another limitation is so called “incomplete citing.” The assumption here is that scientists and authors are supposed to credit those in their reference lists who influenced them most significantly in their work. However, the truth is that many authors try to support, as best and as easily as they can, the interpretation of their own results when attempting to convince or “persuade” the readers [12]. The absolute number of citations an article has accumulated, therefore, cannot be used as a sole measurement of its “importance”.
330
F. Cao et al. / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 325e330
Table 6 Classical journals where citation classics published. Rank
Journal
No. Of articles
Published citation classics
Impact factor (2010)
1 2 3 4 4 6 7 8 8
Gastroenterology Br J Surg Ann surg N Engl J Med Gut Lancet Radiology Am J Gastroenterol Surg Gynecol Obstet
12 11 10 9 9 6 4 3 3
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank
8 8
Am J Surg Dig Dis Sci
12.032 4.443 7.474 53.486 10.614 33.633 6.069 6.882 4.241(now named J AM COLL SURGEONS) 2.680 2.029
3 3
4,29,30,40,41,43,68,69,73,86,92,98 11,26,31,44,45,57,58,63,71,91,100 16,17,32,39,42,55,62,74,77,79 5,8,9,20,21,35,52,60,85 21,24,25,53,59,66,93,95,99 6,14,19,28,38,64 3,18,46,87 33,36,88 2,12,27
Rank 10,34,72 Rank 13,70,83
Fig. 2. Study types of citation classics and levels of clinical researches.
Citation frequency is still considered as one of several valid and legitimate indicators in identifying classic work regardless of many criticisms and biases. These top-cited articles in research about acute pancreatitis identify topics, authors, and institutions that contributed to major advances in this specialty and allow for the recognition of major advances and supply a historic perspective on the progress of research about acute pancreatitis. Conflict of interest There is no conflict of interest. References [1] Garfield E. 100 citation classics from the Journal of the American medical association. JAMA 1987;257:52e9. [2] Lipsman N, Lozano AM. The most cited works in major depression: the ‘Citation classics’. J Affect Disord 2011;134:39e44.
[3] Brandt JS, Downing AC, Howard DL, Kofinas JD, Chasen ST. Citation classics in obstetrics and gynecology: the 100 most frequently cited journal articles in the last 50 years. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;203:355. e1e7. [4] Li Z, Wu FX, Yang LQ, Sun YM, Lu ZJ, Yu WF. Citation classics in main pain research journals. J Anesth 2012;26:85e93. [5] O’Connor DJ, Gargiulo 3rd NJ, Scher LA, Jang J, Lipsitz EC. One hundred vascular surgery citation "classics" from the surgical literature. J Vasc Surg 2011;53:1150e6. [6] Picknett T, Davis K. The 100 most-cited articles from JMB. J Mol Biol 1999;293: 171e6. [7] Hall GM. BJA citation classics 1945e1992. Br J Anaesth 1998;80:4e6. [8] Paladugu R, Schein M, Gardezi S, Wise L. One hundred citation classics in general surgical journals. World J Surg 2002;26:1099e105. [9] Lin AM. US and non-US submissions. JAMA 1998;280:246e7. [10] Dubin D, Hafner AW, Arndt KA. Citation classics in clinical dermatologic journals. Citation analysis, biomedical journals, and landmark articles, 1945e1990. Arch Dermatol 1993;129:1121e9. [11] Marx W, Schier H, Wanitschek M. Citation analysis using online databases: feasibilities and shortcomings. Scientometrics 2001;52:59e82. [12] MacRoberts MH, MacRoberts BR. Citation analysis and the science policy arena. Trends Biochem Sci 1989;14:8e13.