Objective: To assess the number and quality of scientific articles published by authors from the European Union (EU) and Germany in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.
Study design: Scientific articles published during the years 1980-2003 covered by the Journal Citation Report (JCR) were considered, with a focus on the impact factor (IF), authors' origin, journal country and publishing language.
Results: In 2003, there are 53 journals listed by the JCR for the field category 'obstetrics and gynecology', with altogether 3201 publications listed in the Science Citation Index (SCI). From the year 1980, the total number of publications increased persistently. Looking at the top 20 journals in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, there are 12 journals from the US, 8 from Europe. None of these journals has an IF>10 but 30 journals show an IF>1. Over the last 25 years, a growing importance of the English language as scientific language can be observed.
Conclusion: These data indicate an important role of European research in the field of obstetrics and gynecology comparable to that of US-American research. The English language is gaining importance as scientific language, displacing other languages and contributing to a loss of impact of non-English journals.