Contemporary Assessment of the Most Cited Clinical, Basic Science, and Guidelines Papers in Urology: A Reference for Urology Journal Club

Abstract Objectives To perform bibliometric analysis of the top cited articles in urology as a guide for journal club article selection. Methods Bibliometric citation analysis was performed using Scopus. Tables illustrating the top cited clinical, basic science, and guidelines/position statements papers were constructed. Linear regression was used to determine association between h-index and number of citations. Results A total of 3,188,861 publications from 1788–2020 were analyzed. The top 100 cited clinical papers from 1788–2020, top 100 cited contemporary clinical papers from 2000-2020, top 25 cited basic science papers, and the top 25 cited guidelines/position statement papers were reported. Median number of citations in the top 100 cited clinical papers was 1,463 (IQR 1,186–1,821). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (12), Johns Hopkins University (6), and Harvard University (6) contributed the most top cited clinical papers in urology. Urologic oncology was the most represented subspecialty in both clinical (75%) and basic science (96%) papers. First author and last author h-index were found to correlate with the number paper citations in the top 100 cited clinical papers from 1788-2020 (first author β:5.3, p=0.003, last author β:4.5, p=0.03). Only 7% of the most cited clinical papers in urology were from female first authors, which was not statistically significantly different from those reported in prior publications published in 2009 and 2013. Conclusion Contemporary citation analysis of indexed manuscripts in urology may serve as a valuable educational tool for urologists and trainees.