Review article

https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2021.010201

Evaluation of articles in metabolism research on the basis of their citations

Yi Xiang Zhan orcid.org/0000-0002-3474-2251 ; Department of Research, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Kansas City, USA
D’arcy Turner ; Department of Research, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Kansas City, USA
Daniela Tritz ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, USA
Kelly Natarajan ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, USA
Mo Som ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, USA
Matt Vassar ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, USA

Abstract

Introduction: The number of research papers and journals each year is increasing and millions of dollars are spent. Despite this there is evidence to
suggest that many publications do not impact clinical practice. We used citation analysis to measure the influence of metabolism publications from
2003-2013. Those papers with lower citation rates are likely to be of the least value and high rates of such publications may be a marker of research
waste.
Materials and methods: We analysed 67 journals with 81,954 articles related to metabolism indexed on the Scopus station database from 2003-
2013. We identified those articles with less than 5 citations within 5 years from publication date as poorly cited. Journals were ranked by the percentage
of articles that were poorly cited or uncited.
Results: Over the 10-year period, the number of total articles increased by 127%. We found that 24% of articles were poorly cited within 5 years of
publication. Journals in the bottom 25% and top 25% of rankings by citation rates accounted for a similar proportion of poorly cited articles. Most of
the open access journals were ranked in the top 25% for citation rates.
Conclusions: Our analysis contradicts concerns over increasing amounts of publications with little impact. The proportion of poorly cited articles are
low, with little change in the trend over 10 years. The top and bottom ranked journals produced similar proportions of poorly cited articles. These
findings suggest the necessity of pursuing further research to study waste in metabolism research.

Keywords

metabolism; research waste; Scopus; citation; bibliometrics

Hrčak ID:

252047

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/252047

Publication date:

15.2.2021.

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