Using bibliometrics to support revalidation requirements.

Bibliometrics is a method of statistically analysing written works, including books and journal articles. It can be used to measure an academic article's value, the importance of individual authors or academic research, and the productivity of authors, institutions or departments. Aim To explore how bibliometrics can assist nurse academics in providing documented evidence to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC's) revalidation requirements. Method The author's publication history was used to demonstrate how nurse academics can use bibliometrics to provide evidence of their continuing professional development (CPD). A standard search using bibliographic software provided data on the author's h-index, a summary of his year-by-year citations and details of the journals where his work was published. Data were subjected to a co-word and multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Results Data were identified on the number of articles, the journals in which they were published, and the thematic focus of the author's academic work. Four themes were identified from the co-word analysis: nursing and health policy; global influence and change; regulatory research; and leadership and social network analysis. Comparing these results with the revalidation requirements set by the NMC demonstrated the potential for using bibliometrics as a source of CPD evidence. Conclusion Bibliometrics is compatible with the NMC's revalidation requirements and provides a valid means of assisting nurse academics to complete their revalidation portfolios.