The 100 Top-Cited Articles in Pulmonary Imaging: A Bibliometric Analysis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the 100 top-cited articles in pulmonary imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: From the database of Journal Citation Reports, 274 journals whose scope included pulmonary imaging were selected. The Web of Science search tools were then used to identify the 100 top-cited articles in the subject of pulmonary imaging published in these journals. The parameters used to analyze the characteristics of the 100 top-cited articles were journal (including subject category and impact factor), publication year, number of citations and annual citations, department and institution of authors, country of origin, article type, imaging technique, and topic.

RESULTS: The 100 top-cited articles in pulmonary imaging were published between 1953 and 2012, with 43 published between 2000 and 2009. Citations ranged from 199 to 1447, and annual citations ranged from 5.1 to 314. The majority of articles were published in radiology or imaging journals (n=64), originated in the United States (n=49), were original articles (n=87), used computed tomography (n=66), and were based on the topic of pulmonary thromboembolism (n=18). Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic (n=7), and Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia and Vancouver General Hospital (n=7), were the leading institutions, and Müller NL (n=11) was the most prolific author.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study lists the 100 top-cited articles in pulmonary imaging, provides an insight into historical developments, and allows for recognition of advances in this field.