Miyamoto Shimpei
a Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery , National Cancer Centre Hospital , Tokyo , Japan.
J Plast Surg Hand Surg. 2018 Feb;52(1):40-46. doi: 10.1080/2000656X.2017.1319847. Epub 2017 May 9.
Journal ranking based on the impact factor (IF) can be distorted by self-citation. The aim of this study is to investigate the present status of self-citation in the plastic surgery journals and its effect on the journals' IFs.
IF, IF without self-citations (corrected IF), self-cited rate, and self-citing rate for 11 plastic surgery journals were investigated from 2009-2015, by reviewing the Journal Citation Report. The correlations of the IF with the self-cited rate and the self-citing rate were statistically assessed. In addition, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery was compared with 15 top journals from other surgical specialties in 2015.
IF was significantly correlated with the self-cited rate (R: 0.594, p = 0.001) and the self-citing rate (R: 0.824, p < 0.001). The self-cited rate of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2015 was higher than that of top journals from other surgical specialties. The IFs of Microsurgery and Journal of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery increased greatly in recent years, but they were inflated by high self-cited and self-citing rates.
The self-citation rate positively affects the IF in plastic surgery journals. A high concentration of self-citation of some journals could distort the ranking among plastic surgery journals in general.
基于影响因子（IF）的期刊排名可能会因自引而失真。本研究旨在调查整形外科学术期刊的自引现状及其对期刊影响因子的影响。
通过查阅《期刊引证报告》，对11种整形外科学术期刊2009 - 2015年的影响因子、无自引影响因子（校正影响因子）、自引率和被自引率进行了调查。对影响因子与自引率和被自引率的相关性进行了统计学评估。此外，将《整形与重建外科》与2015年其他外科专业的15种顶级期刊进行了比较。
影响因子与自引率（R：0.594，p = 0.001）和被自引率（R：0.824，p < 0.001）显著相关。2015年《整形与重建外科》的自引率高于其他外科专业顶级期刊。近年来，《显微外科》和《颅颌面外科杂志》的影响因子大幅上升，但高自引率和被自引率使其存在虚高现象。
自引率对整形外科学术期刊的影响因子有正向影响。部分期刊高度集中的自引可能会扭曲整形外科学术期刊的整体排名。
