Plastic Surgery Classics: characteristics of 50 top-cited articles in four Plastic Surgery Journals since 1946

Abstract

Background: Citation of published articles by peers provides an indication of the relevance of the scientific work. Still, it is unknown what kinds of plastic surgery articles are cited most often. The authors set out to identify the characteristics of the 50 top-cited articles as published in four international, peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed general plastic surgery journals.

Methods: The 50 most-cited articles were identified in each of the following journals: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the British Journal of Plastic Surgery, the Annals of Plastic Surgery, and the Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery. These 200 articles were ranked after their citation index, defined as the mean number of times they were cited per year during the first 16 years after publication. The top-50 articles thus ranked were analyzed for citation and journal distribution, geographic and institutional origin, surgical and anatomical subject, and level of evidence.

Results: Forty-one of the 50 top-cited articles (82 percent) were published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and 35 articles (70 percent) originated from institutions within the United States. Most of the articles dealt with the reconstruction of acquired defects (45 percent) and with basic or experimental research (41 percent). Research that offered means for clinical improvement, rather than a high level of evidence or the results of multi-institutional collaboration, was most often cited.

Conclusion: An article featuring a clinical or nonclinical innovation, observation, or discovery that leads to clinical improvement has the best potential to become a "classic."