Which Factors Affect Citation Rates in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Literature?

PURPOSE

Citation rate is one of several tools to measure academic productivity. The purposes of this study were to estimate and identify factors associated with citation rates in the oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective longitudinal study of publications in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (JOMS), International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (IJOMS), and Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Oral Radiology (OOOO) from January through December 2012. The predictor variables were author- and article-specific factors. The outcome variable was the citation rate, defined as the total number of citations for each article over a 4-year period. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple regression statistics were computed.

RESULTS

The authors identified 993 articles published during 2012. The mean number of citations at 4 years after publication was 5.6 ± 5.3 (median, 4). In bivariate analyses, several author- and article-specific factors were associated with citation rates. In a multiple regression model adjusting for potential confounders and effect modifiers, first author H-index, number of authors, journal, OMS focus area, and Oxford level of evidence were significantly associated with citation rate (P ≤ .002).

CONCLUSION

The authors identified 5 factors associated with citation rates in the OMS literature. These factors should be considered in context when evaluating citation-based metrics for OMS. Studies that focus on core OMS procedures (eg, dentoalveolar surgery, dental implant surgery), are published in specialty-specific journals (eg, JOMS or IJOMS), and have higher levels of evidence are more likely to be cited.