Authors’ Disclosure Statement: The authors report no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.
Dr. Silvestre is a Clinical Research Fellow, and Dr. Kamath is Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Address correspondence to: Jason Silvestre, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 10 Penn Tower, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (tel, 215-662-2011; fax, 215-349-5895; email, jasonsilvestremd@gmail.com).
Am J Orthop. 2018;47(3). Copyright Frontline Medical Communications Inc. 2018. All rights reserved.
Jason Silvestre, MD Atul F. Kamath, MD . Prevalence and Impact of Self-Citation in Academic Orthopedic Surgery. Am J Orthop. March 16, 2018
TAKE-HOME POINTS
In all, 83.8% of orthopedic surgeons cite previous work at least once.
Self-citations account for only 5.8% of all citations.
Including self-citations increases the mean h-index from 18.5 ± 14.9 to 19.2 ± 15.6 (P < .001).
The magnitude of increase in h-index via self-citation is proportional to the career number of publications.
Overall, while prevalent, the practice of self-citation has minimal impact on an academic orthopedic surgeon’s h-index.
References
ABSTRACT
The h-index is a commonly utilized metric for academic productivity. Previous studies have proposed that self-citation may limit the utility of the h-index. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of self-citation on the h-index among orthopedic investigators. The study cohort consisted of program directors, chairpersons, and faculty at orthopedic surgery residency programs in the United States. The Scopus database was used to determine the h-index and number of citations ± self-citations. The total number of publications was correlated with the change in the h-index via self-citation. A total of 463 researchers were included (198 National Institutes of Health-funded faculty, 147 chairpersons, 118 program directors). Of these researchers, 83.8% cited previous work at least once (mean, 123.9 ± 277.6). Self-citations accounted for 5.8% of all citations. Including these citations increased the author h-index from 18.5 ± 14.9 to 19.2 ± 15.6 (P < .001). A minority of researchers (36.3%, P < .001) had increased their h-index via self-citation (range, 0-11). The proportional increase in the h-index via self-citation was positively related to the number of publications (P < .001). While the practice of self-citation is prevalent in orthopedics, its impact on the h-index is minimal for most researchers. With more publications, researchers can increase their h-index to a greater degree via self-citation.
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