Altmetric and Bibliographic Analysis of the Most Popular Articles on Vitreoretinal Surgery Between 2010 and 2020

Purpose Altmetrics is a web-based metrics method that measures the online dissemination of an article and the interactions it receives. We aimed to perform a bibliometric and altmetrics analysis of the 100 most cited articles (T100) on vitreoretinal surgery (VRS) published between 2010 and 2020. Methods A detailed search including terms regarding VRS in the Web of Science database was conducted. Articles were examined for bibliometric data and altmetrics. Results T100 articles had citation numbers ranging from 55 to 368 and altmetrics score (AS) values ranging from 0 to 125, and there was no statistically significant correlation between them. AS was weakly correlated with publication year. A statistically weak negative correlation was also found between AS and percent of citable open access, number of years since publication (NYsP), and average citations per year (ACpY). Conclusion AS values of articles on VRS were found to be low. Apparently, this was because the issue was of a highly specific and technical nature. However, the existence of articles with a zero AS value despite high citation numbers suggests that journals and authors do not yet attach enough importance to altmetrics. Altmetric analysis is not a reliable indicator for evaluating the scientific value of an article, and it cannot be a substitute for traditional metrics but it can provide perspective on the social impact of articles.