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Citations for Randomized Controlled Trials in Sepsis Literature: The Halo Effect Caused by Journal Impact Factor

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  • Zhongheng Zhang
  • Sven Van Poucke

Abstract

Citations for randomized controlled trials (RCT) are important for the dissemination of study results. However, predictors of citations for RCTs have not been investigated. The study aimed to investigate the predictors of citations for RCTs in sepsis literature. RCTs that investigated the efficacy of treatment strategies on clinical outcomes in sepsis patients were included, and publication dates were restricted to the period from 2000 to 2016. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews and interventions. A multivariable linear regression model was built to investigate the independent variables associated with total citations. In total, 160 RCTs met our inclusion criteria and were included for analysis. The median of total citations was 28.5 (IQR: 6–76). The journal impact factor (IF) for articles was 6.312 (IQR: 3.143–7.214). The dependent variable was transformed by the square root to improve normality and meet the assumption of homoscedasticity. The journal IF (coefficient: 0.2; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.25) was independently associated with total citations. Large samples were associated with more total citations (coefficient: 0.0026; 95% CI: 0.0013, 0.0039). The study demonstrated that the journal IF was a major determinant of the RCT’s total citation number.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhongheng Zhang & Sven Van Poucke, 2017. "Citations for Randomized Controlled Trials in Sepsis Literature: The Halo Effect Caused by Journal Impact Factor," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0169398
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169398
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roberta Pastorino & Sonja Milovanovic & Jovana Stojanovic & Ljupcho Efremov & Rosarita Amore & Stefania Boccia, 2016. "Quality Assessment of Studies Published in Open Access and Subscription Journals: Results of a Systematic Evaluation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-11, May.
    2. Matthew E Falagas & Angeliki Zarkali & Drosos E Karageorgopoulos & Vangelis Bardakas & Michael N Mavros, 2013. "The Impact of Article Length on the Number of Future Citations: A Bibliometric Analysis of General Medicine Journals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-8, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yurij L. Katchanov & Yulia V. Markova, 2017. "The “space of physics journals”: topological structure and the Journal Impact Factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(1), pages 313-333, October.
    2. Juan C. Correa & Henry Laverde-Rojas & Julian Tejada & Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, 2022. "The Sci-Hub effect on papers’ citations," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 99-126, January.

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