Analysis of bibliographic citations received by Spanish anesthesiologists for work indexed by Science Citation Index, 1988-2002

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the international impact of articles published by authors in Spanish anesthesiology departments. METHOD: Citable articles indexed by Science Citation Index between 1988 and 2002 and authored by members of Spanish departments of anesthesiology were considered. Citations were counted 2 years and 5 years after publication. Authors and institutions were ranked according to number of citations received. We also determined the journals Spanish anesthesiologists most often chose for publishing their work. RESULTS: Of the 322 citable articles identified, 61.8% were cited in the 2 years following publication (total 587 citations), and 79.5% were cited within 5 years (total 1472 citations). The most frequently cited articles received 17 citations in 2 years and 45 in 5 years after publication. Articles from the Department of Anesthesiology of Hospital Clinic i Provincial of Barcelona received the largest number of citations (333 citations in 5 years). The author with the highest rate of citations received 11.57 per article. The author with the largest number of citations received 86. Anesthesia & Analgesia was the journal publishing the largest number of articles by Spanish anesthesiologists (35 articles). CONCLUSION: This citation analysis shows the international impact of publications by Spanish anesthesiologists.