Fifty Most-cited Articles on Lateral Epicondylitis of the Elbow

Abstract

Introduction:Citation number can be used as a marker of a scientific article's influence. This study sought to determine and characterize the most-cited investigations on lateral epicondylitis and identify the most influential studies pertaining to this pathology.Methods:The Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science database was queried for articles investigating lateral epicondylitis, and the 50 most-cited articles were selected. For each article, number of citations, citation density, journal, publication year, country of origin, language, article type, article subtype, and level of evidence were recorded.Results:Citation numbers ranged from 72 to 332 (mean, 127.4), and densities ranged from 1.6 to 34.0 (mean, 9.4). Articles were published across 26 different journals. Most articles (41) were clinical, with randomized controlled trials (29.3%) being the most commonly cited articles.Discussion:Compared with previous investigations looking at citation density within orthopaedics, the most commonly cited clinical articles on lateral epicondylitis had a high percentage of level I or II evidence (39.0%). This compilation of the literature can aid in establishing reading curriculums for trainees in both orthopaedic residencies and fellowships. This is a Level V study.

RETRACTED: The Top 50 Articles on Knee Posterolateral Corner Injuries

“…Although citation impact frequently has been used as a marker of an article’s academic influence, this list should not be considered wholly comprehensive, given that the Web of Science only investigates citation number and density as measures of impact. 6 , 7 The number of citations for a specific article can also be easily influenced by many factors including self-citations, date of publication, popularity of subject, journal prestige, and the number of authors. 20 Although the articles included in this study may be the most cited, our study does not report the quality of the articles mentioned.…”

“…In accordance with previously described methods in similar studies, 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 a systematic search of the Science Citation Index Expanded database (v5.35; Thomson Reuters) was performed by one author (A.P.) in August 2021 to identify articles related to PLC injuries.…”

“…Citation impact, or how many times a scientific publication is cited in the literature, can be used as an indicator of an article’s influence in a particular field of study. 6 , 7 Although the number of times an article has been cited is not the only factor determining the importance an article has on its area of medical expertise, it can be useful for indicating the landmark scientific investigations or “citation classics” in a particular field. 8 Analyses of most-cited papers can prove valuable to medical educators by helping identify articles of particular importance that may warrant inclusion in their trainees’ reading curriculum.…”

“… 9 published a citation analysis of the seminal works in orthopaedic surgery, and multiple similar studies have since investigated the most influential papers related to various orthopaedic subspecialties and conditions. 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the most-cited publications in orthopaedic research related to PLC injuries of the knee. It was hypothesized that there would be many highly-cited articles related to PLC injuries published in the last 2 decades and that the minority would present high levels of evidence.…”

A bibliometric analysis of top 50-most cited articles on repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treatment of depression

“…Reporting the citation count is important for several reasons. It helps to develop a perspective about pioneering scientific contribution within a specific field; determine the literature's impact; identify key contributors to funding agencies for prioritizing their research funds and gives a compiled version of top articles to teaching personnel (residency and fellowship program directors) which might improve academics within a field ( Swindell et al., 2018 ).…”