BACKGROUND
Citation counts of articles have been used by universities and funding bodies to measure scientific outcomes and assess suitability for grant applications. However, citation counts are not without limitations. With the rise of social media, altmetric scores may provide an alternative assessment tool.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of this study are to assess the characteristics of highly cited articles in medical professionalism and their altmetric scores.
METHODS
The Web of Science was searched for top-cited articles in medical professionalism, and the characteristics of each article were identified. The altmetric database was searched to identify report for each identified article. A model to assess the relationship between the number of citations and each of key characteristics as well as altmetric scores was developed.
RESULTS
No correlations were found between the number of citations and number of years since publication (p=0.192), number of institutes (p=0.081), number of authors (p=0.270), females in authorship (p=0.15), or number of grants (p=0.384). The altmetric scores varied from zero to 155, total= 806, median=5.0, (IQR=20). Twitter (54%) and Mendeley (62%) were the most popular altmetric resources. No correlation was found between the number of citations and the altmetric scores (p=0.661). To further assess these variables a model was developed using multivariate analysis; did not show significant differences across subgroups. The topics covered were learning and teaching professionalism, curriculum issues, professional and unprofessional behavior, defining and measuring professionalism. The articles were mainly published in Academic Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Annals of Internal Medicine.
CONCLUSIONS
No correlation was found between citations and any of the article parameters. Altmetric scores of articles were not significantly correlated with citations. Highly cited articles were produced mainly by the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The study reflects the emerging role of altmetric and social media in the dissemination of research. Future studies should investigate the specific features of highly cited articles and factors that reinforce distribution of research data among scholars and non-scholars.
CLINICALTRIAL
Not applicable.