Self-Citation Rate and Impact Factor in Ophthalmology

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the self-citation rate (SCR) of ophthalmology journals, determine its possible effect on a journal's impact factor (IF) and compare the SCR of subspecialty journals versus general ophthalmology journals. Method: A retrospective consecutive study of ophthalmology journals listed in the Journal Citations Report (JCR) 2013. We retrieved these parameters from each journal's report: IF, total citations, self-citations, SCR and IF without self-citations (corrected IF). Results: A significant correlation was detected between the number of self-citations and publications (R² = 86.3, p = 0.000). Subspecialty journals had a significantly higher SCR than general journals (p = 0.017). No significant difference was found in terms of IF and corrected IF between general and subspecialty journals (p = 0.260 and p = 0.108, respectively). No significant correlation between IF and SCR was detected (p = 0.099). The corrected IF was inversely correlated with SCR (R² = -32.6, p = 0.013). An inverse correlation was detected between SCR and IF in the 29 ophthalmology journals with the lowest IF (R² = -57.3, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Unlike other fields of medicine, the IF of an ophthalmology journal does not correlate with its SCR. Self-citation is found more often in journals with a low corrected IF and is inversely correlated with IF in the bottom half.

Analysis of self‐citation and impact factor in dermatology journals

“…Similar findings have been reported in studies of journals pertaining to otolaryngology 12 and ophthalmology. 13 However, studies in other fields of medicine, such as Figure 1 Scatterplot with regression line between impact factor and selfcitation rate of dermatology journals orthopedics, 9 anesthesia, 10 and gastroenterology and hepatology, 11 reported a positive correlation between the SCR and the IF.…”

“…The SCR has been proven to positively correlate with the IF of journals pertaining to certain fields of medicine, including orthopedics, 9 anesthesia, 10 and gastroenterology and hepatology. 11 Other studies found an inverse correlation between the JCR and the IF for ophthalmology journals 12 and no correlation for otolaryngology journals. 13 The purpose of the present study was to: (i) investigate the SCR of dermatology journals registered in the JCR; (ii) analyze the relationship between the SCR and the IF of a given journal; (iii) compare the SCR and IF of subspecialty journals versus general dermatology journals; (iv) compare the SCR and IF of foreign language versus English dermatology journals; and (v) determine whether the IF of dermatology journals is influenced by the removal of self-citations (corrected IF).…”

“…The SCR has been proven to positively correlate with the IF of journals pertaining to certain fields of medicine, including orthopedics, anesthesia, and gastroenterology and hepatology . Other studies found an inverse correlation between the JCR and the IF for ophthalmology journals and no correlation for otolaryngology journals …”

How has the dental literature evolved over time? Analyzing 20 years of journal self-citation rates and impact factors

“…The present study revealed that SCR medians in dental journals ranged from 14.7% to 35.3% exceeding the reported rates in medical fields like ophthalmology, dermatology and otolaryngology, i.e. 11.9%, 11.7% and 10.5%, respectively [12,15,16]. However, the current findings fall within the median SCR values observed in the anaesthesiology literature, namely 4-57% [11].…”

“…The available evidence on the potential influence of journal self-citation on IF in medicine is rather inconclusive with contradictory results published across specialties [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Regarding the dental literature, a recent 3-year observational study found that SCR was not significantly associated to the IF of dental journals [19].…”