Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Objective:

Knowledge of landmark papers in urology is essential both for the practise of evidence-based medicine and for trainees requiring a syllabus for the FRCS Urology examination. Citation index (CI) is seen as a direct measure of the quality of a scientific paper. The aim of this study was to compare papers with the highest CI in each urologic sub-speciality with the landmark papers in urology.

Methods:

Seventy-nine of the highest impact factor journals in urology, medicine and urologic sub-specialities were identified from the Journal of Citation Reports: Science edition 2012. Urology papers with the highest CI were identified from these journals using the database of the Science CI (1965–2012). Forty-four landmark papers in urology were then identified from textbooks, recommended reading lists for the FRCS Urology examination, and publications on landmark urology papers. High CI papers were then compared to landmark papers.

Results:

The top 10 cited papers in each urologic sub-speciality were identified. A total of 31.8% (n = 14) landmark papers were among the top 10 cited papers. Urinary tract infection had the highest proportion of landmark papers in the top 10 cited articles. Kidney cancer papers had the highest mean CI while urinary tract trauma had the lowest.

Conclusion:

This study shows that CI alone is a poor indicator of landmark papers in urology. This paper gives a comprehensive overview both of landmark papers in urology and those with the highest CI, and may be used as an adjunct to the FRCS Urology syllabus.

Keywords

Landmark papers FRCS Urology citation index

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baltussen

Kindler

. Citation classics in anesthetic journals. Anesth Analg 2004; 98: 443–451, table of contents.

Thomas

Moore

Gerharz

. Classic papers in Urology. Eur Urol 2003; 43: 591–595.

Hennessey

Afshar

Macneily

. The top 100 cited articles in urology. Can Urol Assoc J 2009; 3: 293–302.

Nason

Tareen

Mortell

. The top 100 cited articles in urology: An update. Can Urol Assoc J 2013; 7: E16–E24.

Heldwein

Rhoden

Morgentaler

. Classics of urology: A half century history of the most frequently cited articles (1955–2009). Urology 2010; 75: 1261–1268.

Gerharz

Emberton

O’Brien

(eds) Classic Papers In Urology. 1999. Oxford (UK): Isis Medical Media.

Gami

Montori

Wilczynski

. Author self-citation in the diabetes literature. CMAJ 2004; 170: 1925–1927; discussion 9–30.

Picknett

Davis

. The 100 most-cited articles from JMB. J Mol Biol 1999; 293: 171–176.

Garfield

. 100 citation classics from the Journal of the American Medical Association. JAMA 1987; 257: 52–59.

10.

Kasabwala

Morton

Svider

. Factors influencing scholarly impact: Does urology fellowship training affect research output? J Surg Educ 2014; 71: 345–352.