A bibliometric analysis of articles published in the Saudi Endodontic Journal

Abstract

Introduction: Bibliometric evaluation of the scientific literature quantifies the growth of individual articles and assesses their impact on subsequent publications within that field. This study investigated the bibliometric attributes of articles published in Saudi Endodontic Journal (SEJ) from 2011 to 2020. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on the datasets which were retrieved manually from the SEJ website in September 2020. The chronological growth of the journal was assessed based on the annual growth rate. Type and field of study for each article were categorized. The most prolific author, institution, and country were identified as well as citation and authorship patterns. Descriptive analysis of the data was performed. Results: A total of 280 articles met the selection criteria for inclusion in the study. The total number of citations received was 1061 with 3.8 cites/document, with an average annual growth rate of 36.7%. The most frequent types of study were laboratorial (37.9%), case report (33.2%), and survey (11.1%). The most commonly occurring fields of study were root canal anatomy (25.7%), irrigation (14.6%), and canal instrumentation (12.9%). Literature reviews (9.6%) and articles on endodontic microbiology (8.3%) were associated with more citations compared to other study types and field of study, respectively. Saad Al-Nazhan has emerged as the most prolific author (n = 16; 5.7%), King Saud University as the most contributing institution (n = 40; 14.3%), and Saudi Arabia as the most contributing country (n = 112; 40%). Conclusion: SEJ has contributed significantly to the growth of endodontic literature as evident by the diversity of subjects covered in the past 10 years. The increased growth in international audience reflects the sturdy confidence of the scientific community on SEJ.