Ponce, FA; Lozano, AM. 2010. Academic impact and rankings of American and Canadian neurosurgical departments as assessed using the h index. JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY 113 (3): 447-457

[Eugene Garfield]

Ponce, FA; Lozano, AM. 2010. Academic impact and rankings of American and 
Canadian neurosurgical departments as assessed using the h index. JOURNAL 
OF NEUROSURGERY 113 (3): 447-457..

Author Full Name(s): Ponce, Francisco A.; Lozano, Andres M.
Language: English
Document Type: Article
Author Keywords: citation analysis; neurosurgery department; bibliometrics; h 
index

KeyWords Plus: SCIENTIFIC-RESEARCH OUTPUT; HIGHLY CITED WORKS

Abstract: Object. The authors undertook a study to estimate the relative 
academic impact of neurosurgical departments in Canada and the US using the 
h index, a measure of the number of citations received by a collection of work.
Methods. The study included 99 departments of neurosurgery with residency 
programs participating in the US National Residency Matching Program, and the 
14 analogous Canadian programs. Three types of h indices were determined one 
reflecting the cumulative work attributed to a neurosurgical department, h(c); 
one restricted to the cumulative work published over the past 10 years, 
11(10); and one limited to work published in 2 major North American 
neurosurgical journals, h(NS)(10). For an article to be included, attribution to a 
neurosurgical department had to appear in the address field in the database 
Thomson's ISI Web of Science. The three h indices were compared with each 
other, and their relation to other measures such as size of the department, 
degrees held by the faculty, and research funding was examined.
Results. Significant correlations were found between the citation indices and 
faculty size, number of publications and the types of degrees held by the 
faculty, and funding by the US NIH. Three types of authorship were identified: 
neurosurgeon, nonclinician researcher, and nonneurosurgeon clinical affiliate. 
The degree to which the latter 2 nonneurosurgeon categories contributed to 
the departmental h index varied among departments and can confound 
interdepartmental comparison. Limiting articles to those published in 
neurosurgical journals appeared to correct for the influence of 
nonneurosurgeons in departmental impact and reflect neurosurgeon-driven 
scholarship.
Conclusions. The h index may be useful in evaluating output across 
neurosurgery departments. (DOI: 10.3171/2010.3.JINS1032)

Addresses: [Lozano, Andres M.] Univ Toronto, Toronto Western Hosp, Div 
Neurosurg, Toronto, ON M5T 2S8, Canada; [Ponce, Francisco A.] St Josephs 
Hosp, Barrow Neurol Inst, Div Neurol Surg, Phoenix, AZ USA

Reprint Address: Lozano, AM, Univ Toronto, Toronto Western Hosp, Div 
Neurosurg, 399 Bathurst St,WW 4-447, Toronto, ON M5T 2S8, Canada.

E-mail Address: lozano at uhnres.utoronto.ca
ISSN: 0022-3085
DOI: 10.3171/2010.3.JNS1032
fulltext: http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2010.3.JNS1032