Login to Access Video or Poster Abstract: MP69-06
Sources of Funding: None

Introduction

The h-index, introduced by Hirsch in 2005, quantifies an individual's contribution to the literature using the author's total number of publications and how frequently those publications have been cited. Author self-citation is commonly used when expanding on previous research; however, there is concern that self-citation practices may be used to artificially inflate one's h-index. The objective of our study was to determine the frequency and patterns of author self-citation in the urology literature.

Methods

A retrospective review of bibliographic references was performed of consecutive publications in three high-impact urology journals published between October and December 2015. Data included number of authors, total references, author self-citations, self-cited references, journal self-citations, urology topic, and country of origin. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to evaluate categorical variables while nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for continuous variables.

Results

A total of 215 articles were analyzed from Journal of Urology, European Urology, and British Journal of Urology. The median number of authors per article was 8 (IQR 6-11) and median number of references was 27 (IQR 20-30). Articles in European Urology generally had more authors than Journal of Urology or British Journal of Urology (median = 12, 7, and 7, respectively, p<0.001). Overall, 180 articles (84%) had at least one self-cited reference. The median number of references with at least one self-citation was 4 (IQR 1-7), corresponding to an overall self-citation rate of 14% (IQR 5-25). Articles in European Urology were significantly more likely than those in Journal of Urology (98% vs. 79%, p<0.001) or British Journal of Urology (98% vs. 81%, p<0.001) to include at least one self-citation. This translated to a significantly higher rate of self-citation in European Urology compared to both Journal of Urology and British Journal of Urology that had equal rates (median 25% vs. 12%, p<0.001).

Conclusions

This study found that author self-citation in the urology literature is common, seen in greater than 80% of articles reviewed. Our study is the first to show the practice of self-citation varies significantly between journals and was more common by authors published in European Urology versus Journal of Urology and British Journal of Urology. The effect of self-citation on an individual's h-index, however, remains to be elucidated and warrants further study.

Funding

None