Bibliometrics of intraoperative radiotherapy. Analysis of technology, practice and publication tendencies

To analyze the performance and quality of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) publications identified in medical databases during a recent period in terms of bibliographic metrics. A bibliometric search was conducted for IORT papers published in the PubMed database between 1997 and 2013. Publication rate was used as a quantity indicator; the 2012 Science Citation Index Impact Factor as a quality indicator. Furthermore, the publications were stratified in terms of study type, scientific topic reported, year of publication, tumor type and journal specialty. We performed a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine differences between the means of the analyzed groups. Among the total of 207 journals, articles were reported significantly more frequently in surgery (n = 399, 41 %) and radiotherapy journals (n = 273, 28 %; p < 0.01). The highest impact factor was achieved by clinical oncology journals (p < 0.01). The majority of identified articles were retrospective cohort reports (n = 622, 64 %), followed by review articles (n = 204, 21 %; p < 0.001). Regarding primary topic, reports on cancer outcome following specific tumor therapy were most frequently published (n = 661, 68 %; p < 0.001) and gained the highest mean impact factor (p < 0.01). Gastrointestinal tumor reports were represented most frequently (n = 456, 47 %; p < 0.001) and the mean superior impact factor was earned by breast and gynecologic publications (p < 0.01). We identified a consistent and sustained scientific productivity of international IORT expert groups. Most publications appeared in journals with surgical and radiooncological content. The highest impact factor was achieved by medical oncology journals. (orig.)