A bibliometric analysis of 81 articles that represent excellence in nursing publication

Abstract

This study revealed the impact of articles perceived as exemplar representations of 80 different nursing journals. Nursing research is being widely read and cited, both in and outside the profession.

A bibliometric analysis of articles identified by editors as representing excellence in nursing publication: Replication and extension

“…This was a quantitative forward‐looking bibliometric analysis using methods previously described (Nicoll et al, ) to understand the citation patterns of 91 articles selected by editors and the companion dataset of 82 articles. A thematic qualitative analysis identified keywords and themes in the comments provided by the editors related to article selection.…”

“…Airtable, as a database, provides easy manipulation of variables for analysis while Excel has different features for mathematical calculation and graphic representation, thus both programmes were used by the research team. In Paperpile and Airtable, each member of the research team read and coded an assigned set of articles consistent with the coding used in the earlier study (Nicoll et al, ): (a) article type (research report, descriptive article or review, quality improvement study, or statement, which included editorials, position papers and letters to the editor); (b) if the article focused on clinical practice, leadership/administration, education, or professional development; (c) discipline and geographical location of the first author; and (d) number of authors. Using Scopus, the assigned team member searched for the number of citations for each article and added them to Excel and Airtable.…”

“…For target and companion articles with subsequent citations, the second‐generation citations were retrieved first and then any third‐generation citations. As part of this phase of the analysis, persistence (rate of subsequent citations from initial publication until data collection); reach (geographical distribution of subsequent citations by state, if US and country); and dissemination , the specialty of the journals in second‐ and third‐generation citations (nursing, medicine or other discipline) was determined (Nicoll et al, ). The citations for the target articles and subsequent citations for the three datasets are shown in Table .…”

“…The IVJ was publicized to INANE members and colleagues through the mailing list and social media; article citations and associated editor comments were posted on the INANE website. Reading the comments, it was apparent that a unique dataset had been created that represented excellence in the nursing literature and warranted bibliometric analysis, which was done and reported (Nicoll et al, ).…”

“…In an early study, Hanney et al () tracked the citations of a leading researcher studying diabetes beginning with first‐generation articles by the researcher through citations in second‐ and third‐ generation articles. In nursing, Nicoll et al () tracked second‐ and third‐generation citations of 81 articles selected by the editors of nursing journals as representing excellence in their subject area. Half ( N = 43; 53%) of the articles were cited at least once, which yielded 721 second‐generation citations and those articles were, in turn, cited by other authors.…”