Citation analysis of the contact lens field

PURPOSE To identify, analyze, and celebrate the most highly cited articles relating to contact lenses and the leading authors, journals, institutions, and countries associated with these publications. METHODS To capture all contact lens articles published since 1900, a search equation targeting specific contact lens-related terms in the titles of articles was derived and entered into "Web of Science." A rank order list of the 1000 most highly cited articles was assembled, each having received at least eight citations. The most prominent articles, authors, journals, institutions, and countries were identified from this list by simple counts. RESULTS The most highly cited article relating to contact lenses (although cited exclusively in the physical sciences literature) is that of Phillip and Schmidt (J Non Cryst Solids 1984;63:288-92), reporting the application of the sol-gel process for the fabrication of rigid contact lenses. Eight of the top 10 articles ranked according to average number of citations/year relate to contact lens-associated microbial keratitis. Of the top eight authors, six have spent all, or a substantial proportion, of their academic careers in Australia and seven have worked in optometric research environments. Optometry and Vision Science is the leading journal. The top-ranked institution is The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The United States is the most prominent publishing country in the field, and Australia ranks highest when the numbers of highly cited articles are considered per head of population. CONCLUSIONS This work provides a unique snapshot of significant articles relating to contact lenses.