What is trending in paediatric dentistry? An Altmetric study on paediatric dentistry journals

The online attention analysis on orthognathic surgery research

OBJECTIVES

Altmetrics is one of the fields of bibliometrics that seeks to assess the impact and interest of a given subject through Internet users. The aim of this study is to make an altmetric analysis of the orthognathic surgery literature.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted using Dimensions app up to December 2023. A list of the 100 most mentioned articles on the topic was compiled. A Google Trends search was performed with same strategy to visualize important data regarding internet search. Charts and tables were created using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer software to allow bibliometric visualization.

RESULTS

There was a very poor correlation between the number of mentions and the number of citations (r = 0.0202). Most articles discussed on technical innovations associated to orthognathic surgery, majority related to virtual planning (n = 26). Other topics considered interesting to internet readers were complications (n = 18), surgical technique (n = 14), and psychological aspects/quality of life (n = 13).

CONCLUSION

Online interest in orthognathic surgery closely aligns with the level of academic interest but is also influenced by factors such as location and economic status. The internet is a powerful tool for disseminating scientific research to a broad audience, making it more accessible and engaging than traditional academic channels.

The correlation between altmetric score and traditional measures of article impact for studies pertaining to spine trauma

PURPOSE

It is becoming increasingly common for researchers to share scientific literature via social media. Traditional bibliometrics have long been utilized to measure a study's academic impact, but they fail to capture the impact generated through social media sharing. Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) is a weighted count of all the online attention garnered by a study, and it is currently unclear whether a relationship with traditional bibliometrics exists.

METHODS

We identified the five highest-rated spine-specific and five highest-rated general orthopedic journals by Scopus CiteScore 2020. We then identified all the spine trauma studies across a 5-year span (2016-2020) within these journals and compared AAS with traditional bibliometrics using Independent t-tests and Pearson's correlational analyses.

RESULTS

No statistically significant relationships were identified between AAS and traditional bibliometrics for articles pertaining to spine trauma: Level of Evidence (R = - 0.02, p = 0.34), H-Index Primary Author (R =  < - 0.01, p = 0.50), H-Index Senior Author (R = - 0.04, p = 0.24), and Number of Citations (R = 0.01, p = 0.40). The top five articles by AAS include those pertaining to motorcycle injuries (AAS = 687), orthosis in thoracolumbar fractures (AAS = 199), golfing injuries (AAS = 166), smartphone-based teleradiology (AAS = 41), and auto racing injuries (AAS = 39).

CONCLUSION

The lack of overlap between these types of metrics suggests that AAS or similar alternative metrics should be used to measure an article's social impact. The social impact of an article should likewise be a factor in determining an article's overall impact along with its academic impact as measured by bibliometrics.

The correlation between altmetric score and traditional measures of article impact for studies published within the Surgeon Journal

Alternative metrics, or altmetrics, have emerged as a promising tool for measuring the social impact of research, which is increasingly important in today's digital and social media-driven world. Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) is a weighted count of all the online attention garnered by a study, and it is currently unclear whether a relationship with traditional bibliometrics exists. The purpose of this article was to retrospectively review articles published in the Surgeon Journal from 2003 to 2020 to compare AAS with bibliometric parameters using an Independent t-test and Pearson's correlation analysis. There were statistically significant weakly positive relationships between AAS and sample size, number of reads, and number of citations. There was no statistically significant relationship between AAS and number of authors, H-index, or level of evidence. This study highlights the potential value of altmetrics by measuring the social impact of research as altmetrics can provide valuable information not captured by traditional metrics. It is currently unclear what the optimal balance of social and academic impact is in evaluating research impact and how altmetrics can be integrated into existing research frameworks.

Impact of COVID-19 Dentistry-Related Literature: An Altmetric Study

INTRODUCTION

Scientific literature on COVID-19 has grown rapidly during the pandemic. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of the popularity on the web of the available dental publications on COVID-19 and to examine associations amongst article characteristics, online mentions, and citations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An Altmetric Explorer search was conducted for COVID-19 articles published in dental journals using 3 keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and pandemic. The following Altmetric data were collected: Altmetric attention score (AAS), mentions by news outlets, tweets, Mendeley readers, and Web of Science citations. Additionally, article title, type, topic, origin and open access status, journal title, quartile of impact factor (IF) distribution, and time lapse between COVID-19 pandemic onset and publication date were analysed.

RESULTS

In all, 253 articles published in 48 dental journals were eligible for the study. AAS was significantly influenced by article topic, type, origin, and journal IF quartile. There was a negligible correlation between AAS and Web of Science citations. Mendeley was the only Altmetric source highly correlated with citations.

CONCLUSIONS

There was substantial online interest in COVID-19 dentistry-related literature, as depicted by the AAS of the reviewed articles and social media metrics. Mendeley reader counts were highly correlated with citations, and they may therefore be valuable in research impact evaluation.

What Do Mothers (or Caregivers) Know about Their Children’s Oral Hygiene? An Update of the Current Evidence

Tooth decay remains one of the most common diseases in children, although it is a preventable injury and despite significant advances that has been made in terms of attention and care for oral hygiene. Several studies have shown the association between prevalence of tooth decay in children and parents’ incorrect oral care habits, with a low educational level and a low socioeconomic background. The question that arises concerns the actual oral hygiene knowledge of mothers, fathers, family members or caregivers of young patients; therefore, the aim of this review is to investigate the genesis of gaps in the topic. A literature search was conducted through the Scopus and PubMed search engine and ended in May 2022; only studies from the past 20 years were included. Current evidence suggests that parents and caregivers still have little knowledge about their children’s oral health: there is not enough awareness about the importance of preventing oral diseases, due to poor attention to good oral hygiene but also lack of information from health professionals and institutions. In the future, all the professionals involved in the pregnant woman’s care should increase parents’ knowledge, solve their doubts, collect and compare data in order to design effective intervention programs.

Predictors of societal and professional impact of Endodontology research articles. A multivariate scientometric analysis

AIM

To identify factors that are predictive of short-term professional and societal impact of research within the specialty of Endodontology, and to identify the top-10 articles that achieved the greatest societal impact and describe their characteristics.

METHODOLOGY

Research articles in the field of Endodontology published in 2019 were eligible for inclusion, with the sample identified using Medline. Following screening of titles and abstracts, bibliometric data of the identified articles were exported into a spreadsheet, where further data related to continental origin, type of article, type of journal (endodontic or non-endodontic) and grant-funding were collated, with additional data concerning presence of journal impact factor, citations, news mentions and Altmetric-tracked-mentions and scores compiled using Clarivate, Scopus, ProQuest and Altmetric Explorer, respectively. Data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, cross-tabulations and un/adjusted negative binomial regression models (P<0.05).

RESULTS

The search retrieved 30,443 articles; 951 were included for analysis. Most articles originated from Asia (43.2%) with over 51.5% of articles published in endodontic journals and 80% published in a journal with an impact factor. Over three-quarters of articles were primary research, 141 were grant-funded, 165 had a news mention, 338 achieved an Altmetric Attention Score and 808 were cited. The five-highest ranked articles were mentioned in general news bulletins, five of the top-10 articles were primary research and six of the top-10 were published in endodontic journals. The highest Altmetric Attention Score and citation count were 100 and 87, respectively. Adjusted models demonstrated that the type of article, publication in a journal with an impact factor, absence of grant-funding and coverage within general news bulletins predicted the Altmetric Attention Scores (P<0.001). Article type, publication in an impact-factor journal and presence of an Altmetric Attention Score were predictive of citations (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Article type and publication in a journal with an impact factor were significant predictors of both societal and professional impact of research articles within Endodontology in the short-term. Non grant-funded research and coverage in general news bulletins achieved greater societal impact, whereas an article achieving an Altmetric Attention Score was also strongly related to professional impact.