Characteristics and Trends in Spine Research Over the Last Decade in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery from 2008 to 2017.

BACKGROUND This study reviews and identifies various trends and characteristics of spine research published by The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (JBJS) from 2008 through 2017. METHODS A PubMed search of all studies published in JBJS from 2008 to 2017 was performed using the keyword "spine." A similar search was conducted on the JBJS website. Citations, authorship, academic degrees, country of origin, topic, level of evidence, positive or negative outcome, and patient-reported outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 163 articles were selected using exclusion criteria. The most cited article was referenced 513 times per Google Scholar and 318 times per Web of Science. The most popular research topics were related to either the cervical spine (approximately 22% of articles) or scoliosis (approximately 22% of articles). The United States was responsible for 73.0% of the articles in the study, followed by China at 6.1%. Fifty-eight articles used at least one patient-reported outcome measurement (PROM), most commonly the Short Form Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS A strong emphasis on international publications and an increase in authorship are evident. Level of evidence (LOE) I or II studies received 2.4 times as many citations on average as LOE III or IV studies. While no evidence of a positive publication bias from JBJS was found, there appears to be a lack of standardization of patient reported outcome measurements in spine research. Finally, spine articles discussing medical protocols or patient management garnered an average of 1.6 times as many citations as spine studies that explored other topics.