Q. D. Gibson1, H. Chen1, J. B. Rose1 1University Of Alabama at Birmingham,Surgery,Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Introduction:
While there is ongoing controversy regarding the utility of bibliometric indices such as impact factor, h-index, and eigenfactor in the evaluation of academic journals and author productivity, there is generally agreement that such factors have value when used appropriately. The current study aims to perform a topic related bibliometric analysis on journal articles about pancreatic cancer.
Methods:
A Scopus database search relating to pancreatic cancer was performed. The search parameters included the keyword “Pancreatic Cancer” in the subject area of “Medicine”. The search was further limited to English language articles from academic journals published after 1993. Publication and citation counts with varying measures of centricity were used to calculate a modified topic specific impact factor
Results:
The search yielded 21,710 articles from 1,690 journals. The article with the most citations dealing solely with pancreatic cancer appeared in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The journal with the most publications over the past 25 years is Pancreas. The journal with the most pancreatic cancer related publications per year is Oncotarget with 78.43 articles per year for its 7 years of existence. Six of the top twenty articles were surgery related articles and all six detailed experiences with pancreaticoduodenectomies at a single institution. Of the top 30 journals by article count, the Journal of Clinical Oncology had the highest median citation count.
Conclusion:
Topic related bibliometric analysis provides unique insights into a field of interest. This analysis demonstrates the value in relating institutional experiences with surgical procedures which is supported by the fact that 30% of the top twenty articles reported institutional experiences with the Whipple procedure. Topic related bibliometric analyses also allow institutions and individuals to target journal submissions, journal subscriptions and literature research.