Estimating the bibliometric impact of EMERGENCIAS over the last 10 years (1997-2006)

Miró O, Burillo-Putze G, Tomás Vecina S, Pacheco A, Sánchez M

Aims: To estimate the bibliometric impact factor (IF) of

EMERGENCIAS over the last ten years (1997 – 2006) and

the eventual influence different editorias strategies may have

had on it.

Material and methods: A twofold methodology was applied for identifying

references to EMERGENCIAS: the external references to EMERGENCIAS

were recorded in automated fashion through the Science

Citation Index – Expanded database of the Institute for Science Information

(ISI), and internal references were recorded manually.

Results: Over the last ten years, EMERGENCIAS has published a

total of 897 papers. Considering only the external references, the IF

ranged from a minimum of 0 in 2001 and a maximum of 0.043 in

1999. When internal references are included, the IF ranged from

0.070 in 2004 (minimum) and 0.337 in 2000 and 2001 (maximum).

Internal and self-references, which were practically constant at over

70% throughout the period considered, have decreased over the last

few years. The elimination of monographic issues and a quantitative

limitation of the number of case reports published would allow for a

doubling of the IF. In 2005 the IF of EMERGENCIAS was 0.128, and

the journal would have taken the last place among the 11 journals

currently indexed by the ISI under the heading of Emergency Medicine,

which in 2005 had IF levels ranging from 0.5 and 2.8.

Conclusion: The current Impact Factor of EMERGENCIAS is low,

so that it will have to increase the number of external references

and recover that of internal ones prior to attempting its international

indexation.

Burillo-Putze G, Miró O, Pacheco A, Sánchez M, Tomás Vecina S