Citation classics in general medical journals: assessing the quality of evidence; a systematic review.

Ahmad, Suhaib JS.; Ahmed, Ahmed R.; Kowalewski, Karl Friedrich; Nickel, Felix; Rostami, Kamran; Stocker, Claire J.; Hakky, Sherif M.; Archid, Rami; McWhinnie, Douglas; Mohajer-Bastami, Ata; Seimenis, Dionysis Skiadopoulos; Ahmad, Sami; Mansour, Sami; Ahmed, Mohamed H.; Mital, Dushyant; Exadaktylos, Aristomenis K. (2020). Citation classics in general medical journals: assessing the quality of evidence; a systematic review. Gastroenterology and hepatology from bed to bench, 13(2), pp. 101-114. Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases 10.22037/ghfbb.v13i2.1774

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Aim

This review provides a comprehensive overview of more than 100 of the most cited studies in general medical journals and evaluates whether citations predict the quality of a scientific article.

Background

The number of citations is commonly used as a measure of the quality and impact of a scientific article. However, it is often criticised that the number of citations is in fact a poor indicator of the true quality, as it can be influenced by different factors such as current trends.

Methods

This review was conducted in line with the PRISMA guidelines. The Journal Citation Report (JCR) within Incites allowed the evaluation and comparison of articles, published in general medical journals, using far-reaching citation data drawn from scholarly and technical journals and conference proceedings. All steps of the review were performed in duplicate and conflicts were resolved through consensus.

Results

The 100 most cited articles published from 1963 until the end of 2018 were identified. The number of citations ranged from 4012 to 31853. Most of the articles were published in the 2000's, followed by the 1990's, 1980's, 1970's and 1960's, respectively. All of the articles were published in five journals. There were 50 studies at level II, 28 at level V, 10 at level IV, 7 at level III, and 5 at Level I.

Conclusion

This systematic review provides an overview of the most cited articles, published in general medical journals. The number of citations provides an indication of the quality of evidence. However, researchers and clinicians should use standardized assessment tools rather than solely rely on the number of citations in order to judge the quality of published articles.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Review Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesiology (DINA) > University Emergency Center

UniBE Contributor:

Exadaktylos, Aristomenis

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

2008-2258

Publisher:

Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases

Language:

English

Submitter:

Romana Saredi

Date Deposited:

24 Nov 2020 14:34

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:42

Publisher DOI:

10.22037/ghfbb.v13i2.1774

PubMed ID:

32308931

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Article quality Bibliometrics Citation classics General medical journals Level of evidence Most-cited articles

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.148455

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/148455

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