The most influential COVID-19 articles: A systematic review

doi:10.1016/j.nmni.2023.101094

Review

. 2023 Mar:52:101094.

doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2023.101094. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

The most influential COVID-19 articles: A systematic review

Suhaib Js Ahmad^{1

2}, Konstantinos Degiannis^{3

2}, Joseph Borucki⁴, Sjaak Pouwels⁵, David Laith Rawaf⁶, Marion Head¹, Chun Hei Li⁷, Rami Archid⁸, Ahmed R Ahmed⁹, Anil Lala¹, Wasif Raza¹, Katie Mellor¹, Doerte Wichmann⁸, Aristomenis Exadaktylos²

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Wales, UK.
² Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³ Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital of Saarland, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany.
⁴ Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norwich, UK.
⁵ Department of General, Abdominal and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Helios Klinikum Krefeld, Germany.
⁶ WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education & Training, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁷ Vascular Institute, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁸ Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Eberhard-Karls-University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
⁹ Department of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Imperial College London, London, UK.

PMID: 36816491
PMCID: PMC9918314
DOI: 10.1016/j.nmni.2023.101094

Review

The most influential COVID-19 articles: A systematic review

Suhaib Js Ahmad et al. New Microbes New Infect. 2023 Mar.

. 2023 Mar:52:101094.

doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2023.101094. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Wales, UK.
² Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³ Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital of Saarland, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany.
⁴ Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norwich, UK.
⁵ Department of General, Abdominal and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Helios Klinikum Krefeld, Germany.
⁶ WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education & Training, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁷ Vascular Institute, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁸ Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Eberhard-Karls-University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
⁹ Department of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Imperial College London, London, UK.

PMID: 36816491
PMCID: PMC9918314
DOI: 10.1016/j.nmni.2023.101094

Abstract

Background: Since December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has triggered a pandemic with challenges for health care systems around the world. Researchers have studied and published on the subject of SARS-CoV-2 and the disease extensively. What is the significance of articles published, shared and cited in the early stages of such a pandemic?

Materials and methods: A systematic literature search in a time frame of 12 months and analysis rating using Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA) were performed.

Results: The 100 most cited COVID-19 articles were identified. The majority of these articles were from China (n = 54), followed by United States of America (USA) (n = 21) and United Kingdom (UK) (n = 8). All articles were published in high-ranked, peer-reviewed journals, with research focusing onthe the diagnosis, transmission and therapy of COVID-19. The level of evidence of the 100 most cited COVID-19 articles on average was low.

Conclusion: In the early stages of a pandemic, new and innovative research can emerge and be highly cited, regardless of the level of evidence.

Keywords: COVID-19; Citations; ICU care; Intensive care; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Flow diagram demonstrating the methodology and data extraction.

**Fig. 2**
The hundred most cited Covid-19 articles study types.

**Fig. 3**
Number of publications and citations per country.

**Fig. 4**
Principal component analysis of the relationship between citation number, citation density, level of evidence and Impact.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Spatio-Temporal Patterns of the SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic in Germany.
Diebner HH. Diebner HH. Entropy (Basel). 2023 Jul 29;25(8):1137. doi: 10.3390/e25081137. Entropy (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37628167 Free PMC article.

References

1. Ahmad S.J., Ahmed A.R., Kowalewski K.F., Nickel F., Rostami K., Stocker C.J., Hakky S.M., Archid R., McWhinnie D., Mohajer-Bastami A., Seimenis D.S., Ahmad S., Mansour S., Ahmed M.H., Mital D., Exadaktylos A.K. Citation classics in general medical journals: assessing the quality of evidence; a systematic review. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2020;13(2):101–114. Spring. - PMC - PubMed
1. Ahmad S.J.S., Ahmed A.R., Exadaktylos A.K., McWhinnie D., Nickel F., Hakky S.M., Ramdin A., Müller P.C. Systematic review on citation classics in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery. J Minimal Access Surg. 2018 Oct-Dec;14(4):265–272. - PMC - PubMed
1. Ahmad S.S., Ahmad S.S., Kohl S., Ahmad S., Ahmed A.R. The hundred most cited articles in bariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 2015 May;25(5):900–909. doi: 10.1007/s11695-014-1542-1. - DOI - PubMed
1. Straus S., Glasziou W., Richardson S., Haynes R.B. fourth ed. Churchill Livingstone; Edinburgh, UK: 2011. Evidence based medicine: how to practice and teach it.
1. Chen Q., Allot A., Lu Z. LitCovid: an open database of COVID-19 literature. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021;49(D1):D1534–D1540. - PMC - PubMed

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[1] Ahmad S.J., Ahmed A.R., Kowalewski K.F., Nickel F., Rostami K., Stocker C.J., Hakky S.M., Archid R., McWhinnie D., Mohajer-Bastami A., Seimenis D.S., Ahmad S., Mansour S., Ahmed M.H., Mital D., Exadaktylos A.K. Citation classics in general medical journals: assessing the quality of evidence; a systematic review. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2020;13(2):101–114. Spring. - PMC - PubMed

[2] Ahmad S.J., Ahmed A.R., Kowalewski K.F., Nickel F., Rostami K., Stocker C.J., Hakky S.M., Archid R., McWhinnie D., Mohajer-Bastami A., Seimenis D.S., Ahmad S., Mansour S., Ahmed M.H., Mital D., Exadaktylos A.K. Citation classics in general medical journals: assessing the quality of evidence; a systematic review. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2020;13(2):101–114. Spring. - PMC - PubMed

[3] Ahmad S.J.S., Ahmed A.R., Exadaktylos A.K., McWhinnie D., Nickel F., Hakky S.M., Ramdin A., Müller P.C. Systematic review on citation classics in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery. J Minimal Access Surg. 2018 Oct-Dec;14(4):265–272. - PMC - PubMed

[4] Ahmad S.J.S., Ahmed A.R., Exadaktylos A.K., McWhinnie D., Nickel F., Hakky S.M., Ramdin A., Müller P.C. Systematic review on citation classics in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery. J Minimal Access Surg. 2018 Oct-Dec;14(4):265–272. - PMC - PubMed

[5] Ahmad S.S., Ahmad S.S., Kohl S., Ahmad S., Ahmed A.R. The hundred most cited articles in bariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 2015 May;25(5):900–909. doi: 10.1007/s11695-014-1542-1. - DOI - PubMed

[6] Ahmad S.S., Ahmad S.S., Kohl S., Ahmad S., Ahmed A.R. The hundred most cited articles in bariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 2015 May;25(5):900–909. doi: 10.1007/s11695-014-1542-1. - DOI - PubMed

[7] Straus S., Glasziou W., Richardson S., Haynes R.B. fourth ed. Churchill Livingstone; Edinburgh, UK: 2011. Evidence based medicine: how to practice and teach it.

[8] Straus S., Glasziou W., Richardson S., Haynes R.B. fourth ed. Churchill Livingstone; Edinburgh, UK: 2011. Evidence based medicine: how to practice and teach it.

[9] Chen Q., Allot A., Lu Z. LitCovid: an open database of COVID-19 literature. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021;49(D1):D1534–D1540. - PMC - PubMed

[10] Chen Q., Allot A., Lu Z. LitCovid: an open database of COVID-19 literature. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021;49(D1):D1534–D1540. - PMC - PubMed

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The most influential COVID-19 articles: A systematic review

Affiliations

The most influential COVID-19 articles: A systematic review

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

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References

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

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