Background: Bibliometric indexes are often used to evaluate and compare neurosurgeons and departments, and they have been shown to correlate with academic rank and department reputation. We evaluated academic productivity of neurosurgeons practicing in departments accredited by the Joint Residency Advisory and Accreditation Committee and European Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we calculated number of publications, citations, h-index, and m-quotient from PubMed and Web of Science databases for 285 neurosurgeons affiliated with 19 departments that are accredited or in progress of accreditation by the Joint residency Advisory and Accreditation Committee. Academic productivity was compared as a function of academic rank and research degree.
Results: Median number of publications in PubMed and Web of Science indexed journals were 13 (range, 0-352) and 15 (range, 0-323), respectively. Median h-index was 4 (range, 0-41), and median m-quotient was 0.56 (range, 0-2.86). There was a significant variability between the studied departments in median number of publications and h-index (P = 0.001). Professors and associate professors had significantly higher bibliometric indexes than neurosurgeons without academic rank (all P values < 0.001). Department chairmen had higher bibliometric indexes than other faculty members (all P values < 0.001). Neurosurgeons holding a research degree authored more publications and had higher bibliometric indexes than faculty members not holding a research degree (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: This is the first study to evaluate academic productivity of neurosurgeons practicing in Europe and Turkey. Higher academic rank and advanced research degree were associated with greater academic productivity. Further studies exploring regional differences in academic productivity of European neurosurgeons are encouraged.
Keywords: Academic productivity; Medical education; Neurosurgeons; h-index.
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