Analysis and evolution of bibliometric indicators of productivity and readership of articles on smoking appearing in ARCHIVOS DE BRONCONEUMOLOGIA from 1970 to 2000.: A comparison to others topics in respiratory medicine

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the evolution of bibliometric indexes for research on smoking published in ARCHIVOS DE BRONCONEUMOLOGIA (AB) from 1970 through 2000, to compare indexes for each of the three decades under study, and to compare the indexes for smoking research with those of other topics in respiratory medicine. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed all articles published by AB between 1970 and 2000, recording data on 13 characteristics. RESULTS: Of 2,198 documents reviewed, 45 (2.04%) were about smoking; 71% of them were published in the last five years. The research came mainly from the most productive four provinces and five hospitals, which produced 68.1% and 50% of the reports, respectively. The first authors were pneumologists in 78.4% of the articles. The productivity index was 1.65, and the mean number of authors per document (collaboration index) was 4 +/- 3. The total number of references was 1,230 and the number of references per paper was 27.3 +/- 26. AB was the most cited journal. We found no change in obsolescence indexes. Insularity and self citation indexes tended to increase. Topics with productivity indexes that were higher than the index for smoking research were asthma (p < 0.05), respiratory insufficiency and sleep disorders, non-tuberculosis infection, oncology and pleural and interstitial diseases (p < 0.001). The insularity index was higher for tuberculosis than for smoking (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking research increased considerably during the period studied. Pulmonologists predominated among the authors of studies on smoking. Bibliometric indexes for smoking evolved as did the indexes for other research. The most frequently cited journal was AB.