Analysis of the Top Articles and Authors of the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma and Bibliometric Comparison of Impact Factors of Orthopaedic Surgery Journals.

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the top 100 cited authors and the top 20 articles in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (JOT) and compare its impact factor (IF) with the orthopaedic and nonorthopaedic surgery literature.

Methods:

Design: Retrospective.

Setting: The Web of Science (WoS) and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) databases.

Patient selection criteria: Literature published in JOT from 1995 to present indexed in the WoS and JOT orthopaedic subspecialty and nonorthopaedic journals indexed in JCR with reported IF in 2023.

Outcome measures and comparisons: WoS: Top 20 cited articles originating in JOT and top 100 cited author in the first, last, and any author position of JOT articles, author location of training and current place of work. JCR: Comparison of yearly IF and yearly IF percent growth of selected orthopaedic trauma, other orthopaedic subspecialty, and nonorthopaedic journals to JOT from 1997 to 2023.

Results: The number of citations for the top 20 cited articles in JOT ranged from 302 to 787. Of the top 100 JOT first authors by the citation number, 93 were orthopaedic surgeons. In total, 65% of these completed a residency in the United States, 61% worked in the United States, and of the authors who work in the United States, 70.5% practice in an academic setting. From 1997 to 2023, JOT 's mean yearly IF was 1.6, and the mean yearly IF percent growth was 6.1%. The mean IF for included comparison orthopaedic subspecialty journals was 2.3, with 5.6% mean yearly IF percent growth. JOT's median IF was 1.8 and was second to Injury (IF 1.9) within orthopaedic trauma journals evaluated.

Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis shows that JOT's most cited authors are primarily US-trained orthopaedic surgeons in academic environments. JOT has consistently experienced annual growth in its IF throughout its almost 30-year history and has one of the highest impact factors of measured orthopaedic trauma journals.