Citation context and impact of ‘sleeping beauties’ in paediatric research

OBJECTIVES: ‘Sleeping beauties’, i.e. publications that are not cited for a long while, present interesting findings in science. This study analysed the citation trends of sleeping beauties in paediatric research. METHODS: The study used bibliometric software to analyse the papers citing sleeping beauties in paediatric research, to understand the context in which paediatric sleeping beauties were finally cited and the impact of these sleeping beauties on paediatric research. RESULTS: Two paediatric sleeping beauties, addressing medical homes and the transition from paediatric to adult health care, respectively, awakened in response to organizational needs. Both presented novel concepts of paediatric service organization that became important because of an increased need for optimization of services. CONCLUSION: All sleeping beauties bring new knowledge that becomes important only after several years. Paediatric sleeping beauties exhibited unique characteristics; however, their presence in paediatric research shows that knowledge acquisition in paediatrics resembles that in other disciplines.