Comparison of the distribution of citations received by articles published in high, moderate, and low impact factor journals in clinical medicine

Falagas, ME; Kouranos, VD; Michalopoulos, A; Rodopoulou, SP; Batsiou, MA; Karageorgopoulos, DE

dc.contributor.author	Falagas, ME	en
dc.contributor.author	Kouranos, VD	en
dc.contributor.author	Michalopoulos, A	en
dc.contributor.author	Rodopoulou, SP	en
dc.contributor.author	Batsiou, MA	en
dc.contributor.author	Karageorgopoulos, DE	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:33:02Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:33:02Z
dc.date.issued	2010	en
dc.identifier.issn	1444-0903	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/20285
dc.subject	bibliographic database	en
dc.subject	bibliometrics	en
dc.subject	citation analysis	en
dc.subject	publication	en
dc.subject	statistical distribution	en
dc.subject.classification	Medicine, General & Internal	en
dc.subject.other	article	en
dc.subject.other	citation analysis	en
dc.subject.other	clinical medicine	en
dc.subject.other	comparative study	en
dc.subject.other	data base	en
dc.subject.other	internal medicine	en
dc.subject.other	medical literature	en
dc.subject.other	medical research	en
dc.subject.other	priority journal	en
dc.subject.other	screening	en
dc.subject.other	Clinical Medicine	en
dc.subject.other	Humans	en
dc.subject.other	Internal Medicine	en
dc.subject.other	Journal Impact Factor	en
dc.subject.other	Periodicals as Topic	en
dc.title	Comparison of the distribution of citations received by articles published in high, moderate, and low impact factor journals in clinical medicine	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1111/j.1445-5994.2010.02247.x	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-5994.2010.02247.x	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2010	en
heal.abstract	Background: Whether the journal impact factor (JIF) indicator reflects the number of citations to an average article of a journal in different subject categories is controversial. We sought to further investigate this issue in general and internal medicine journals. Methods: We selected to evaluate three journals of the above subject category, in each of three different JIF levels (high: 15.5-28.6, moderate: 4.4-4.9 and low: 1.6). Using the Scopus database, we retrieved the original research articles (after detailed screening) and review articles (as classified by Scopus) that were published in the selected journals in 2005 along with the number of citations they received in 2006 and 2007. We pooled the citations for articles of the same type in journals with the same JIF level into distinct variables. Results: There was no marked association between the distribution of citations per article published in general medical journals and their JIF. All distributions studied were skewed to the right (higher number of citations). Specifically, 16-22% of the original research articles accounted for 50% of the total citations to this type of article for all three categories of studied journals; 34-37% of original research articles accounted for 75% of citations. The respective values for review articles were 12-18% and 29-39%. Conclusion: The distribution of citations received by articles published in high, moderate and low impact factor journals in clinical medicine seems similar. The JIF is not an accurate indicator of the citations the average article receives; articles published in low impact factor journals can still be highly cited and vice versa. © 2010 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.	en
heal.publisher	WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC	en
heal.journalName	Internal Medicine Journal	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1111/j.1445-5994.2010.02247.x	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000281064700008	en
dc.identifier.volume	40	en
dc.identifier.issue	8	en
dc.identifier.spage	587	en
dc.identifier.epage	591	en