The Bibliometric Aspects of Case Report/Series in Science Citation Index Otorhinolaryngology Journals

OBJECTIVE: The rate of case report/series (CR/S) acceptance by the high impact journals is steadily declining mainly due to low citations. The aim of this study is primarily to investigate the bibliometric aspects of CR/S in the field of otorhinolaryngology (ORL) and secondarily to guide prospective authors as to which type of CR/S have better chances of acceptance and citation in the current publication climate. METHODS: Bibliometric and citation analysis of CR/S published in Science Citation Index (SCI) journals of ORL covering the years of 2012-2016 was conducted. RESULTS: There were 1332 (8.9%) CR/S among 14900 publications in 11 SCI ORL journals published between January 1(st), 2012 and December 31st, 2016. The most common published field and subject were the ‘pediatric ORL’ (33.2%) and ‘rare cases/conditions’ (47.1%) respectively. ‘General ORL’ (5.13) and ‘treatment’ (4.93) categories had the highest citations. Only 10% of CR/S had ≥10 citations. The mean citation counts were positively correlated with impact factors of journals (r=0.131, p<0.001), mean number of authors (r=0.151, p<0.001), mean number of cases (r=0.192, p<0.001), mean number of references (r=0.315, p<0.001) and mean number of Web of Science visits (r=0.291, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Although CR/S provides low citation rates in ORL SCI journals, they may serve important topics in terms of diagnosis, treatment, or complications. The findings and the main discussions of this study may direct the rationale for the consistent publication of CR/S in the evidence-based medicine era.