Bibliometric Analysis of Publications From 2011–2020 in 6 Major Neurosurgical Journals (Part 1): Geographic, Demographic, and Article Type Trends

Abstract

Scientometrics is a subfield of bibliometrics that statistically analyzes publications trends. The aim of this initial study was to investigate trends in the 6 major neurosurgical journals from the last 10 years. We searched Web of Science and Scopus for articles published in Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, Operative Neurosurgery, and World Neurosurgery from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020. Statistically analyzed parameters included national and continental distribution of articles, population density, density of neurosurgeons per 100,000 inhabitants, national per capita GDP, and national literacy rates. Bibliometric parameters assessed included total number of articles, H-indices, absolute/average number of citations per article, and article types. A total of 39,239 articles were published in the 6 journals. Journal of Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery had the strongest source impact. The most productive year was 2019 with 6811 published articles. Corresponding authors from the USA, China, Japan, Western Europe, and Turkey were the most productive. Articles published by authors from the USA received the majority of citations. Publication numbers increased in proportion with increases in country population, literacy rate, per capita GDP, and neurosurgeon density. The highest number of articles were published in 2016, and the fewest were published in2020. Geographic trends in the diversity of neurosurgical publications sustained its steady increase in most developed counties. Simultaneously, the publication gap between developed and developing countries has remained stagnant.