Social network analysis as a new tool to measure academic impact of physicians

IF 1.6 4区医学 Q2 OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY

Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology Pub Date : 2025-01-07 DOI:10.1002/lio2.70060

Niketna Vivek BS, Evan Clark BS, Lily Gao BS, Shenmeng Xu PhD, Steven Baskauf PhD, Kirsten Nguyen BS, Melissa Goldin BS, Kavita Prasad MD, Alexis Miller MD, Panpan Zhang PhD, Shiayin Yang MD, Sarah Rohde MD, Michael Topf MD, Alexander Gelbard MD

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

H-index is a widely used metric quantifying a researcher's productivity and impact based on an author's publications and citations. Though convenient to calculate, h-index fails to incorporate collaborations and interrelationships between physicians into its assessment of academic impact, leading to limited insight into grouped networks. We present social network analysis as a tool to measure relationships between physicians and quantify their academic impact.

Methods

A bibliometric multicenter analysis was conducted on physician faculty from 129 US ACGME accredited otolaryngology programs who have publications with a physician co-author in the field. Using web searches, 2494 physician faculty were identified. Scopus IDs, h-indices, and publication data for these physicians were identified using multiple Elsevier APIs queried in December 2023. Publications with multiple otolaryngology physician co-authors were included. Network and sub network maps were generated using Gephi and analyzed with custom R scripts. Centrality measures (degree, PageRank, betweenness centralities) quantified collaboration propensity. Non-parametric correlation analysis between centrality measures and h-index was conducted. Sankey diagrams were plotted using ggplot2.

Results

A co-authorship network of 2259 physicians was constructed. Physicians were visualized as nodes with collaborations as links. Centrality measures correlated strongly with h-index (h-index vs. degree centrality: r² = 0.62, h-index vs. PageRank: r² = 0.55, h-index vs. betweenness centrality: r² = 0.55; p < .0001). Analysis revealed novel insights into physician network structure, identifying 14 communities primarily populated by single subspecialties with varied node density.

Conclusion

Social network analysis showed moderate correlation between social connectedness measures and h-index, supporting its use in measuring academic impact. In otolaryngology, collaborative interactions within the academic community are strongly shaped by sub-specialty affiliation and academic institution.

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社会网络分析作为衡量医师学术影响的新工具。

H-index是一种广泛使用的量化研究人员的生产力和影响的指标，基于作者的出版物和引用。虽然计算方便，但h-index未能将医生之间的合作和相互关系纳入其学术影响评估，导致对分组网络的了解有限。我们提出社会网络分析作为一种工具来衡量医生之间的关系和量化他们的学术影响。方法：对来自129个美国ACGME认证的耳鼻喉科专业的医师教师进行文献计量学多中心分析，这些医师在该领域与一位医师共同发表了论文。通过网络搜索，确定了2494名医师教员。使用2023年12月查询的多个Elsevier api，确定了这些医生的Scopus id、h- index和发表数据。包括多名耳鼻喉科医师合著的出版物。使用Gephi生成网络和子网络地图，并使用自定义R脚本进行分析。中心性度量（度、PageRank、中间中心性）量化了协作倾向。对中心性测度与h指数进行非参数相关分析。使用ggplot2绘制Sankey图。结果：构建了2259名医师的合作作者网络。医生被可视化为节点，协作作为链接。中心性指标与h-index密切相关(h-index与度中心性：r2 = 0.62， h-index与PageRank: r2 = 0.55， h-index与中间中心性：r2 = 0.55；p结论：社会网络分析显示，社会连通性测量与h指数之间存在适度的相关性，支持将其用于学术影响的测量。在耳鼻喉科，学术团体内的合作互动受到亚专业隶属关系和学术机构的强烈影响。

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