A bibliometric analysis of Serbian Dental Journal: 2002-2009

Abstract

Introduction. Serbian Dental Journal (SDJ) is a major source of formal communication for dentists in this region. The purpose of this bibliometric study was to examine articles published in SDJ in period 2002-2009, in reference to journal productivity and nature of authorships, citation patterns, most frequently cited scientific journals and the role of self-citations. Material and Methods. Bibliographic data, as well as metadata for all articles were taken from the Serbian national citation index SCIndeks. Bibliometric analysis of source articles included the number and type of article, author characteristics and cited literature. For each citation the following data was recorded: author(s), article title, journal title, monographic title, publication type, publication year and language. Results. In this period 193 articles were published and most of them were original research articles. In this period a total of 314 national and international authors cooperated, responsible for 538 authorships. The mean number of authors per article was 2.8. Most cited items in terms of publication type were journal articles (83.5 %), while the most frequently cited journals were just those most relevant in the field of dentistry. Results also indicate that the age of the cited literature is below the norm for medical literature. Conclusion. Obtained numerical indicators do not differ significantly when compared to other scientific and professional journals. However, it can be concluded that it is necessary to increase journal productivity and self-citation rate, as well as citation of current literature, up to five years old. This analysis allows evaluating patterns of scientific communication among dentists in this region, as well as journal's current management strategies in order to define useful future directions for the inclusion into the international system of scientific information exchange.Uvod. Casopis Stomatoloski glasnik Srbije (SGS) je glavni izvor formalne komunikacije stomatologa s ovih prostora. Cilj ovog rada je bio da se primenom bibliometrijskih pokazatelja provere osobenosti radova objavljenih u SGS, produktivnost casopisa, priroda autorstava, obrasci citiranja, najcesce citirani naucni casopisi i uloga autocitata u periodu 2002-2009. godine. Metode rada. Podaci o objavljenim radovima i metapodaci preuzeti su iz Srpskog citatnog indeksa (SCIndeks). Bibliometrijska analiza izvornih clanaka ukljucila je broj i tip objavljenih radova, podatke o autorima i citiranu literaturu. Za svaki citat zabelezeni su sledeci podaci: autor(i), naslov rada, casopisa i monografske publikacije, tip dokumenta, godina objavljivanja i jezik. Rezultati. U posmatranom periodu u SGS su objavljena 193 clanka, od kojih vecinu cine originalni naucni radovi. Kooperiralo je ukupno 314 autora iz zemlje i inostranstva, odgovornih za 538 autorstava. Prosecan broj autora po radu bio je 2,8. Najcesce citirani tip literature su clanci iz casopisa (83,5%), dok su najcesce citirani naucni casopisi upravo oni najcenjeniji na polju stomatologije uopste. Podaci o starosti citirane literature ukazuju na citiranje koje je nesto ispod norme za medicinsku literaturu. Zakljucak. Dobijeni podaci se ne razlikuju znacajno od numerickih pokazatelja za druge naucne i strucne casopise. Ipak se moze zakljuciti da je neophodno povecati produktivnost i autocitiranost casopisa, kao i koriscenje aktuelne literature stare do pet godina. Ova analiza omogucava valorizaciju naucne komunikacije stomatologa s ovih prostora, ali i evaluaciju aktuelne strategije vodjenja ovoga casopisa, kako bi se definisale korisne smernice za ukljucivanje u medjunarodni sistem razmene naucnih informacija.