Ramsdell, R; Lerman, J; Pickhardt, D; Feldman, D; Foster, J; Houle, TT Subspecialty Impact Factors: The Contribution of Pediatric Anesthesia and Pain Articles ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIA, 108 (1): 105-110 JAN 2009

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: jerrold.lerman at gmail.com 

Author(s): Ramsdell, R (Ramsdell, Robert); Lerman, J (Lerman, Jerrold); 
Pickhardt, D (Pickhardt, Donald); Feldman, D (Feldman, Doron); Foster, J 
(Foster, James); Houle, TT (Houle, Timothy T.) 

Title: Subspecialty Impact Factors: The Contribution of Pediatric 
Anesthesia and Pain Articles 

Source: ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIA, 108 (1): 105-110 JAN 2009 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: MEDICAL JOURNALS; FUTURE 

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The Science Citation Index "Journal Impact Factor" 
(JIF) is widely used to assess journal quality and prestige. The JIFs for 
the specialty anesthesia are reported annually, however, the impact 
factors (IFs) for subspecialties in those journals have not been reported. 
Therefore, we compared the TFs of pediatric anesthesia (Ped IFs) and pain 
(Pain IFs) articles from four anesthesia journals for two epochs.
METHODS: An article-by-article manual search for "source" pediatric 
anesthesia and pain articles published in 1998, 1999, 2003, and 2004 in 
Anesthesiology, Anesthesia & Analgesin, British Jounal of Anaesthesia, and 
Canadian Journal of Anesthesia was performed. The citations for each of 
these articles in each of the years were surveyed in the ISI Web of 
Science database. Ped IFs and Pain IFs for the 2000 and 2005 epochs were 
calculated and compared with the JIF from which they were derived and to 
those Of the journal, Pediatric Anesthesia.
RESULTS: Ped IFs for the four journals in 2005 exceeded those in 2000, 
whereas the Pain IFs were unchanged. For both the Ped IFs and the Pain 
IFS, there was a significant effect of the journal. The Pain IFs were 70%, 
greater than the Ped IFs.
CONCLUSIONS: Ped IFs were consistently less than the JIFs in which they 
were published and the Pain IFs, except for the British Journal of 
Annaesthesia 2005 in the latter case. The numbers of citations of 
pediatric anesthesia articles were greater in journals with greater IFs. 
The implications of subspecialty IFs warrant further consideration. 

Addresses: [Ramsdell, Robert; Lerman, Jerrold; Pickhardt, Donald; Feldman, 
Doron; Foster, James] SUNY Buffalo, Dept Anesthesiol, Womens & Childrens 
Hosp, Buffalo, NY 14222 USA; [Lerman, Jerrold] Univ Rochester, Strong Mem 
Hosp, Dept Anesthesiol, Rochester, NY 14642 USA; [Pickhardt, Donald] SUNY 
Buffalo, Dept Pediat, Womens & Childrens Hosp, Buffalo, NY 14222 USA; 
[Houle, Timothy T.] Wake Forest Univ, Sch Med, Dept Anesthesiol, Winston 
Salem, NC 27109 USA 

Reprint Address: Lerman, J, SUNY Buffalo, Dept Anesthesiol, Womens & 
Childrens Hosp, 219 Bryant St, Buffalo, NY 14222 USA. 

E-mail Address: jerrold.lerman at gmail.com 

Cited Reference Count: 17 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS 

Publisher Address: 530 WALNUT ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106-3621 USA 

ISSN: 0003-2999 

DOI: 10.1213/ane.0b013e31818f0e89 

29-char Source Abbrev.: ANESTH ANALG 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Anesth. Analg. 

Source Item Page Count: 6 

Subject Category: Anesthesiology 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 387PB 

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