Bibliographic characteristics of the research output of pediatric anesthesiologists in Canada

Abstract

Various bibliometric citation indices have been used to evaluate research productivity and scientific impact, but recently, Hirsch's h-index has gained widespread recognition. Although described initially for physical sciences, h-indices are being used to assess research productivity and impact in other disciplines. In this descriptive study, Scopus and Web of Science(R) citation databases were used to identify the bibliographic characteristics of pediatric anesthesiologists from all university affiliated departments of pediatric anesthesia in Canada up to May 2009. For each anesthesiologist, the h-index, mean citations per publication, total number of publications, total number of citations, and year of first publication were determined. A study population of 151 pediatric anesthesiologists was identified. The range of h-index values for this cohort was 0-32 with a median (interquartile range) of 2 (1-5). The 90(th) percentile was 8.0. The median (interquartile range) number of citations per publication was 6 (1-15), with a range of 0-87. The median (interquartile range) number of publications was 4 (1-9) with a range of 0-165. We describe the bibliographic characteristics of the research output of pediatric anesthesiologists in Canada. This study highlights the growing influence of scientometrics on the evaluation of scientific performance in medical specialties.