Clin Orthop Surg.  2019 Jun;11(2):237-243. 10.4055/cios.2019.11.2.237.

Assessment of Korea's Orthopedic Research Activities in the Top 15 Orthopedic Journals, 2008–2017

• Shon WY
• Yoon BH
• Jung EA
• Kim JW
• Ha YC
• Han SH
• Kim HS

• KMID: 2445061
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4055/cios.2019.11.2.237

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Bibliometrics is increasingly used to assess the quantity and quality of scientific research output in many research fields worldwide. This study aims to update Korea's worldwide research productivity in the field of orthopedics using bibliometric methods and to provide Korean surgeons and researchers with insights into such research.
METHODS
Articles published in the top 15 orthopedic journals between 2008 and 2017 were retrieved using the Web of Science. The number of articles, citations and h-index (Hirsch index), funding sources, institutions, and journal patterns were analyzed.
RESULTS
Of the total 39,494 articles, Korea's contribution accounted for 5.6% (2,161 articles), ranking fifth in the world in the number of publications. Korea ranked sixth (with 29,456) for total citations worldwide but ranked 17th (13.64) in terms of average citation per item and 14th (55) in terms of h-index. Korea showed the most prolific productivity in the field of sports medicine and arthroscopy. The institution that produced the highest number of publications was Seoul National University (n = 386, 17.9%).
CONCLUSIONS
Orthopedic research in South Korea demonstrated high productivity in terms of the number of publications in high-quality journals between 2008 and 2017. However, total citations and average citations per article were still relatively low. Efforts should be made to increase citation rates for further improvement in research productivity in the field of orthopedics.

Keyword

Bibliometrics; Research; Orthopedics; Journal Impact Factor; Korea

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Time trend for total number of articles from top five countries between 2008 and 2017.

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  Fig. 2 Co-authorship network for orthopedic publications among top 20 countries from 2008 through 2017.

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