Scholarly output and the impact of self-citation among surgical fellowship program directors.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to define the publication patterns and the impact of self-citation among program directors of surgical fellowships. METHODS: Program directors were identified through the respective fellowship accrediting council and association websites for eleven surgical subspecialties. Using the Scopus database, the number of publications, citations, self-citations, and h-indices were calculated. RESULTS: 781 program directors were identified. The mean number ± SD of publications, citations, and h-index for the cohort were 74.6 ± 88.2, 2141 ± 3486, and 18.8 ± 14.5, respectively. The self-citation rate for the entire cohort was 3.17%. After excluding self-citations, the h-index remained unchanged for 72% of surgeons. After propensity score matching for h-index, colorectal surgeons (1.48%, p = 0.04) had significantly lower self-citation rates. CONCLUSION: Overall, self-citation is infrequent among program directors of surgical fellowships. There is a lower rate of self-citation among colorectal surgeons when compared to program directors in other specialties with similar baseline metrics.

Duke Scholars

Author Danielle Elaine Cafasso Surgery, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery