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Eur J Pediatr Surg 2021; 31(02): 164-171
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1702223
Original Article

Publication Trends and Global Collaborations on Esophageal Atresia Research: A Bibliometric Study

Xiaoyan Feng   ∗
1   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
,
Illya Martynov‡   ∗
1   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
,
Anne Suttkus
1   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
,
Martin Lacher
1   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
,
Steffi Mayer
1   Department of Pediatric Surgery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
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Abstract

Introduction Research on esophageal atresia (EA) has been heavily published over the past decades. Herein, we aimed to study the quantity and quality as well as key topics in EA research with regards to global collaborations among countries and authors.

Materials and Methods Publications on EA from 1945 to 2018 were extracted from the Web of Science core collection database. Productivity (quantity) was assessed by the number of publications. Quality was estimated from the number of citations, citation rate per item and year, h-index, and impact index. Collaborative networks were evaluated using VOSviewer. All measures were analyzed for countries, authors, and journals. The 10 most cited original articles between 1969 and 2018 in 5-year intervals (n = 100) were manually screened to assess the key points of EA research.

Results A total of 2,170 publications from 85 countries published in 388 journals were identified yielding 26,755 citations, both significantly increasing over time (p < 0.001). The most productive countries and authors also accounted for high-quality publications and benefited from an active global network. The most productive journals derived from the field of pediatric surgery but accounted only for one-third of EA papers. The best cited journals were unspecific for pediatric surgery. Long-term outcome remained the most important topic in EA research, followed by surgical techniques, epidemiology, associated anomalies, perioperative complications, and postnatal management. In contrast, basic science was underrepresented.

Conclusion Over the past seven decades, EA publications increased tremendously. Productiveness and quality benefited from global networking. Long-term outcome remains the key interest of EA research.

Keywords

bibliometrics - citations - esophageal atresia - pediatric surgery

∗ Both the authors equally contributed to this article.




Publication History

Received: 06 November 2019

Accepted: 10 January 2020

Article published online:
08 March 2020

© 2020. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

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