Alla, S; Sullivan, SJ; McCrory, P; Hale, L. 2011. Spreading the word on sports concussion: citation analysis of summary and agreement, position and consensus statements on sports concussion. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE 45 (2): 132-135

[Eugene Garfield]

Alla, S; Sullivan, SJ; McCrory, P; Hale, L. 2011. Spreading the word on sports 
concussion: citation analysis of summary and agreement, position and 
consensus statements on sports concussion. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPORTS 
MEDICINE 45 (2): 132-135.

Author Full Name(s): Alla, Sridhar; Sullivan, S. John; McCrory, Paul; Hale, Leigh
Language: English
Document Type: Article

KeyWords Plus: 2ND INTERNATIONAL-CONFERENCE; NOVEMBER 2008; ZURICH; 
MANAGEMENT; RECOMMENDATIONS; SCIENCE

Abstract: Background The growing concern over concussion in sports has led 
to the publication of five major summary and agreement, position and 
consensus statements since 2000. The dissemination of information from these 
statements is largely unknown and difficult to quantify, but their impact on the 
research community can be quantified by analysing the number of citations to 
these key publications. The purpose of this review is to report the number and 
pattern of citations to the key published statements on sports concussion.
Methods Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed were searched from 2000 to 
mid-December 2009 using two different search strategies. The first strategy 
used the search terms 'concussion' and 'first author' of the statement article, 
while the second used the 'title' of the target article as the key search term.
Results The publications resulting from the three 'Concussion in Sport' (CIS) 
group conferences were cited by 532 journal articles, while the National 
Athletic Trainers' Association position statement was cited 123 times. The 
highest number of citations to each of the five identified statements was seen 
in 2009. British Journal of Sports Medicine was the most frequently cited 
journal.
Conclusion The citation analysis of the key statements on sports concussion 
has shown that the target papers have been widely cited in the research 
literature, with the highest number of citations being from the publications 
arising from the CIS group conferences. The authors have shown their 
preference to cite source articles published in the British Journal of Sports 
Medicine.

Addresses: [Alla, Sridhar] Univ Otago, Sch Physiotherapy, Ctr Physiotherapy 
Res, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; [McCrory, Paul] Univ Melbourne, Ctr Hlth 
Exercise & Sports Med, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Reprint Address: Alla, S, Univ Otago, Sch Physiotherapy, Ctr Physiotherapy 
Res, POB 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.

E-mail Address: allsr357 at student.otago.ac.nz
ISSN: 0306-3674
DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.074088
fulltext: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.074088