Author and journal self-citation in Emergency Medicine original research articles - 30/11/21
Abstract |
Objective |
To determine author and journal self-citation rates in a sample of original emergency medicine (EM) research articles.
Methods |
We undertook a retrospective observational study of original research articles published in 2019 in the top six English language general EM journals. Data comprised the total numbers of articles, citations, authors and self-citations for each author (author self-citations) as well as the number of articles in the reference list that had been previously published in the same journal (journal self-citations).
Results |
3213 individual authors and 581 articles were examined. Most authors did not self-cite at all although 62 self-cited five or more times in a single article. The mean (SD) and median (IQR) numbers of individual author self-citations/article/year were 0.6 (1.3) and 0 (0–1), respectively. Overall, author self-citations accounted for 2.4% of all cited articles. There was a weak positive but significant correlation between the number of individual author self-citations/article/year and the number of articles published by the author (r = 0.38, p < 0.001). There was no correlation between the journal impact factor (IF) and the author self-citation rate (r = 0.14, p = 0.79). The journals differed significantly in their author self-citation rates (p < 0.001). Annals of Emergency Medicine had the highest journal self-citation rate at 8.1% (95%CI 7.0%–9.2%) self-citations/100 citations/year, almost twice that of some other journals. There was a large but non-significant positive correlation between the journal IF and journal self-citation rates (r = 0.78, p = 0.07).
Conclusion |
Both author and journal self-citation rates in the articles examined are relatively low compared to other medical and scientific disciplines.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Highlights |
• | Self-citation can be used to inflate an author's h-index or a journal's impact factor. |
• | Author self-citation rates appear to be low and acceptable compared to some other specialties. |
• | Most authors do not self-citate, but some do frequently. |
• | Journal self-citation rates also appear to be low and acceptable. |
• | However, the journals' self-citation rates differ significantly. |
Keywords : Self-citation, Research, Authorship, Journal
Plan
Vol 50
P. 481-485 - décembre 2021 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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