Vitzthum Karin, Mache Stefanie, Quarcoo David, Scutaru Cristian, Groneberg David A, Schöffel Norman
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Free University Berlin and Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany.
Scoliosis. 2009 Jul 28;4:15. doi: 10.1186/1748-7161-4-15.
Publications related to scoliosis have increased enormously. A differentiation between publications of major and minor importance has become difficult even for experts. Scientometric data on developments and tendencies in scoliosis research has not been available to date. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the scientific efforts of scoliosis research both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Large-scale data analysis, density-equalizing algorithms and scientometric methods were used to evaluate both the quantity and quality of research achievements of scientists studying scoliosis. Density-equalizing algorithms were applied to data retrieved from ISI-Web.
From 1904 to 2007, 8,186 items pertaining to scoliosis were published and included in the database. The studies were published in 76 countries: the USA, the U.K. and Canada being the most productive centers. The Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri) was identified as the most prolific institution during that period, and orthopedics represented by far the most productive medical discipline. "BRADFORD, DS" is the most productive author (146 items), and "DANSEREAU, J" is the author with the highest scientific impact (h-index of 27).
Our results suggest that currently established measures of research output (i.e. impact factor, h-index) should be evaluated critically because phenomena, such as self-citation and co-authorship, distort the results and limit the value of the conclusions that may be drawn from these measures. Qualitative statements are just tractable by the comparison of the parameters with respect to multiple linkages. In order to obtain more objective evaluation tools, new measurements need to be developed.
与脊柱侧弯相关的出版物数量大幅增加。即使对于专家来说，区分重要和次要的出版物也变得困难。迄今为止，尚无关于脊柱侧弯研究发展和趋势的科学计量数据。本研究的目的是从定量和定性两方面评估脊柱侧弯研究的科学成果。
采用大规模数据分析、密度均衡算法和科学计量方法来评估研究脊柱侧弯的科学家的研究成果的数量和质量。将密度均衡算法应用于从ISI网络检索到的数据。
1904年至2007年，共有8186篇与脊柱侧弯相关的文章发表并被纳入数据库。这些研究发表在76个国家：美国、英国和加拿大是最主要的研究中心。华盛顿大学（密苏里州圣路易斯）被确定为该时期发表文章最多的机构，而骨科学是发表文章最多的医学学科。“BRADFORD, DS”是发表文章最多的作者（146篇），“DANSEREAU, J”是科学影响力最高的作者（h指数为27）。
我们的结果表明，目前既定的研究产出衡量标准（即影响因子、h指数）应受到严格评估，因为诸如自引和共同作者等现象会扭曲结果，并限制从这些标准得出的结论的价值。定性陈述只能通过比较多个关联参数来处理。为了获得更客观的评估工具，需要开发新的测量方法。
