Demographic correlations for 100 most-cited authors in ophthalmic research; a bibliometric study

To analyze the academic characteristics, career trajectory, scholarly publications,and demographic background of the 100 most-cited authors in ophthalmic literature.

In thisobservational cross-sectional study, a database containing every ophthalmology journal article from 1967 to 2018 was built using Scopus journal article information. The 100 authors with the most citations were identified,alongwith a control group of authors with at least five publications. Information about each author,such as gender, institution,and educational degrees were found from online web searches. Intra-and inter-group analyses were performed to identify correlations that may lead to having a high level of impact in ophthalmology literature.

Of the 100 most-cited ophthalmologists, 56 practice in the United States (US) and only 12 are female. In an odds ratio(OR)analysis, highly-cited researchers more often lived inthe US (OR, 2.97; P< 0.001), were male (OR, 2.4; P= 0.02), and graduated from an elite medical school (OR, 3.89; P= 0.02) and/or residency (OR, 3.67; P= 0.02), but were not from an undergraduate institution (P=0.75). There was no difference in citation numbers between different ophthalmology subspecialties (P= 0.22) or advanced degrees (PhD, MPH in addition to MD). Women among the top-100-cited authorswere more likely to author high impact journal articles (P< 0.05).

Among highly-cited ophthalmologists, practicing in the US and attending a top medical school or residency program may provide training for a successful research career in ophthalmology. Additionally, top female ophthalmologists participate in more influential research.