Scientific impact and bibliometric contextualisation of paediatrics compared to other specialities

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, to identify and characterise the production, citation, impact and collaboration indicators of the Pediatrics area of the Journal Citation Reports, and on the other hand, to place the journal Anales de Pediatria in the context of the Spanish journals of another twenty areas and medical specialties. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The sources of information used to obtain the indicators were Science Citation Index-Expanded, Journal Citation Reports, and Scimago Journal & Country Rank. A regression analysis was performed to determine the correlation between the citation and other variables. RESULTS: Pediatrics ranked 8th in scientific production during the period 2009-2018. In citations per journal it ranks 17th, and the average citations per article approaches 27, occupying, in this case, the 18th position. Below Pediatrics are Emergency Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Primary Health Care. There are no citations for 12.47% of the articles. The average impact factor places the area in 18th place and its h index was 197, reaching 14th position, and standing above seven other areas. The percentage of works carried out with international collaboration was 17.71%, above Primary Health Care (12.88%), Oncology (16.37%), and Emergency Medicine (17.03%). Among the Spanish journals, Anales de Pediatria was the fourth most productive journal, and occupied an intermediate position in terms of the number of citations. CONCLUSIONS: The indicators of citation and impact of the Pediatrics area tend to be above areas such as Emergency Medicine, Primary Health Care, Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine, and Rehabilitation. Professional practice outside large hospitals, together with poor funding, as well as the low number of clinical trials due to the ethical requirements imposed on studies with children, may be the causes that result in moderate citation and impact indicators.