[An analysis of articles published from 1996-2005 in the Chinese Journal of Hepatology (Zhonghua Ganzangbing Zazhi].

Objective To study the academic level, subject location, influence, readership, degree of usage and recognition by the readers of the Chinese Journal of Hepatology. Methods By referring to the "Chinese S T Journal Citation Reports" edited by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, the numbers, types, pertinent diseases, funding statues, citings, and the intervals between receiving and the publication of all the articles published in the 72 issues of the Chinese Journal of Hepatology were statistically analyzed. The work units and the geographic locations of the authors were also analyzed. Results During the past ten years, 2 437 articles were published, 27.4 percent of the total received. Of the published articles 892 were on viral hepatitis (36.6%), 428 on liver fibrosis or cirrhosis (176%), 421 on liver cancer (17.3%), and 696 on other subjects (28.6%). The impact factor and the total cited numbers of the articles of the journal were among the top five in the profession. Some other reference indexes used to evaluate the periodicals of the journal were better than the average level of other periodicals in China. The number of references of each original article in this journal averaged 4.6, most of which were English ones. The average number of the authors of each article was 4.5, and 89.7 percent of all the articles were written by two authors. Only one article was from an American author (first author), and the other first authors were all from the 31 provinces, main cities and PLA institutions in China. Of the total 2 437 articles, 71.7% (1 744) were from the following: Chongqing (387), Shanghai (381), Beijing (315), Guangdong (227), PLA institutions (212), Zhejiang (115), and Hubei (107). Conclusion The Chinese Journal of Hepatology is a periodical which has been highly regarded by professionals and has a great influence in academic fields.