Abstract

Volume.126 Number.4

Original article : Basic science

Impact Factor of Major Journals in Ophthalmology: Long-term Changes and Factorial Analysis
Keiichi Tanzawa, Naomi Nohara, Nami Sato, Norio Ohba
Division of Orthoptics, Heisei-iryou College of Health Sciences

Objective: To analyze the long-term changes in impact factors and the number of citations of major journals in ophthalmology.
Materials and methods: The impact factors of 13 journals in the field of ophthalmology mentioned in the Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics) for the past 23 years (1997 to 2019) were investigated, and the number of citations of published articles in the Science Citation Index (Web of Science) for 5 years from 2005 to 2009 was counted and its attributes were analyzed.
Results: Impact factors have been increasing over the time frame studied. There was virtually no temporal change in the rank of the impact factors among journals, with the United States-based journals, Ophthalmology, Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology (formerly Archives of Ophthalmology), American Journal of Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology, and Visual Science consistently ranked high among the major ophthalmic journals examined, and the journals published by European, Australian, and Japanese national academic societies ranked low. The impact factor of general journals tends to depend on the number of articles published. The number of citations of each article varied greatly, but the number of citations is large for review articles, multi-authored articles, multicenter study articles, and randomized controlled treatment articles. There were no significant differences in citations of articles from countries other than the United States compared to those from the United States, and articles from outside the United States contributed to maintaining the high impact factor of United States-based journals. Research topics of citation classics up to the 100th rank included age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy; etiology of glaucomatous optic neuropathy; etiology and treatment of anterior segment disease (keratoconus, dry eye, and keratoplasty); etiology of myopia; and clinical application of optical coherence tomography. Many articles that summarized the results of randomized controlled trials have received higher citations.
Conclusions: Analyses of long-term changes in impact factors and the number of citations of articles identified journals articles that have contributed to the promotion of research in the field of ophthalmology. The current results provide materials for an overview of research trends.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 126: 436-447,2022.

Key words
Journals in the field of ophthalmology, Journal impact factor, Number of citations
Reprint requests to
Norio Ohba, M. D. Division of Orthoptics, Heisei-iryou College of Health Sciences. 182 Kurono, Gifu-shi, 501-1131, Japan