A pilot study of neurointerventional research level of evidence and collaboration

Predictors of Citations in Neurosurgical Research: A 5-Year Follow-Up

BACKGROUND

Citation rates are an important measure for the impact of articles. This study is the most comprehensive analysis of predictors for scientific neurosurgical research articles.

METHODS

Scientific articles published in 13 neurosurgical journals in 2015 were selected. Data collected included article subject, level of evidence (LOE), journal impact factor (IF), authorship, contributing centers, and study design. Citation counts were collected for each article in Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar (GS) 2.5 and 5 years after publication and Scopus 5 years after publication. A generalized linear mixed-effects model using the predictors of search engine, LOE, number of centers, number of authors, and IF was constructed to predict total citation count at 5 years.

RESULTS

A total of 2867 articles generated 39,190 citations in WoS, 61,682 in GS, and 43,481 in Scopus. The median number of citations per article was 10 (interquartile range [IQR], 14) in WoS, 15 (IQR, 20) in GS, and 11 (IQR, 15) in Scopus. On average, for every 1 citation in WoS, Scopus and GS identified 1.11 and 1.58 citations, respectively. Significant predictors of citation count in all databases 5 years after publication included search engine, LOE, number of centers, number of authors, number of countries, journal IF, and the month of publication (P < 0.05). The article subject (e.g., tumor or spine) did not significantly predict citation counts.

CONCLUSIONS

In the most thorough analysis of citation predictors in the neurosurgical literature, search engine, LOE, number of centers, number of authors, number of countries, journal impact factor, and month of publication influenced citations 5 years after publication.

Clinical trials of neurointervention : 2007-2018

BACKGROUND

ClinicalTrials.gov is one of the largest trials' registries in the world.

OBJECTIVE

To leverage the ClinicalTrials.gov database to define the portfolio of clinical trials of neurointervention.

METHODS

We restricted our extraction to interventional clinical trials submitted between 2007 and 2018, and included MeSH terms that are part of the nervous system (n=19 344) or cardiovascular disease (n=19 234) categories and included a list of neurointerventional terms. The characteristics of trials, geographic distribution, dissemination, and funding sources were explored using descriptive and regression models.

RESULTS

A total of 206 neurointerventional clinical trials across 1691 medical centers were identified. Acute stroke was the most studied conditions (68, 33%), followed by aneurysms (63, 31%), carotid stenosis (48, 24%), intracranial atherosclerotic disease (7, 3.5%), cerebral venous thrombosis (6, 3%), arteriovenous malformation (4, 2%), idiopathic intracranial hypertension (3, 1.5%), and others (6, 3%). Overall, 59 (29%) trials were completed, 79 (37%) were active trials (28% recruiting), and 22 (11%) were terminated or suspended. Academic centers and industry were the most common primary funding source (63% and 29%, respectively), with no funding source reported in 16 (7.7%) trials. Among 77 completed or terminated trials, only 9 (11.7%) trials reported findings within 12 months. Median time to publication for trials funded by academia was 1.66 years (interquartile range (IQR) 0.7-2.1) versus 2.1 years (IQR 1.2-3.25) for industry-funded studies.

CONCLUSIONS

A low dissemination rate for results and a high rate of study non-completion, as well as lack of geographic dispersion of trials appear to be major challenges in the field.

The 100 most cited articles in the endovascular management of intracranial aneurysms

INTRODUCTION

Endovascular interventions for intracranial aneurysms have evolved substantially over the past several decades. A citation rank list is used to measure the scientific and/or clinical impact of an article. Our objective was to identify and analyze the characteristics of the 100 most cited articles in the field of endovascular therapy for intracranial aneurysms.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective bibliometric analysis between July and August 2017. Articles were searched on the Science Citation Index Expanded database using Web of Science in order to identify the most cited articles in the endovascular therapy of intracranial aneurysms since 1945. Using selected key terms ('intracranial aneurysm', 'aneurysm', 'aneurysmal subarachnoid', 'endovascular', 'coiling', 'stent-assisted', 'balloon-assisted', 'flow-diversion') yielded a total of 16 314 articles. The top 100 articles were identified and analyzed to extract relevant information, including citation count, authorship, article type, subject matter, institution, country of origin, and year of publication.

RESULTS

Citations for the top 100 articles ranged from 133 to 1832. All articles were cited an average of 27 times per year. There were 45 prospective studies, including 7 level-II randomized controlled trials. Most articles were published in the 2000s (n=53), and the majority constituted level III or level IV evidence. Half of the top 100 articles arose from the USA.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the most cited articles in the endovascular management of intracranial aneurysms. It recognizes the contributions made by key authors and institutions, providing an important framework to an enhanced understanding of the evidence behind the endovascular treatment of aneurysms.