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Evidence-based recommendations for increasing the citation frequency of original articles

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Abstract

Publications and citations are important for career advancement of researchers. Our main aim was to derive recommendations that might increase the citation frequency of authors’ work. We examined title and article characteristics of original research articles published in the major medical journals BMJ, JAMA, Lancet, NEJM and PLOS Med (PLOS) between 2011 and 2020, using PubMed and Web of Science. To analyze citation frequencies, we estimated quasi Poisson regression models. The NEJM had by far the shortest titles (9.7 ± 1.8 words). Titles in the other journals were at least 8 words longer on average. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were rarely identifiable by its title in the NEJM (5.3% by title, 63.3% by title plus abstract). BMJ, Lancet and PLOS articles had more frequently active verbs than JAMA and NEJM articles. The citation frequency was higher when articles were open access and when more authors and corporate authors were involved (all p < 0.001), and it was lower when a geography was mentioned (p < 0.001). Titles differed substantially in their characteristics between major medical journals. The NEJM often chose titles for RCTs not following the CONSORT 2010 statement. Several modifiable title and article characteristics were associated with the citation frequency of articles, such as open access of an article. We recommend authors to choose the title carefully to obtain the maximum range for their work.

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Medizinische Biometrie und Statistik (IMBS), Universität zu Lübeck, Universitätsklinikum-Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

    Nicole Heßler

  2. Cardio-CARE, Medizincampus Davos, Davos, Switzerland

    Andreas Ziegler

  3. School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

    Andreas Ziegler

  4. Department of Cardiology, University Heart & Vascular Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

    Andreas Ziegler

Authors
  1. Nicole Heßler
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  2. Andreas Ziegler
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Contributions

NH: Formal analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review and editing. AZ: Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Ziegler.

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Conflict of interest

There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. AZ is a licensed Tim Albert trainer and has held several courses in the past based on Albert’s concept.

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Heßler, N., Ziegler, A. Evidence-based recommendations for increasing the citation frequency of original articles. Scientometrics 127, 3367–3381 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04378-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04378-7

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