Objective: To evaluate publication trends in nonobstetric brachial plexus injury research.
Methods: In September 2020, Scopus was searched for articles on nonobstretric brachial plexus injury. Citation count, year of publication, country of corresponding author and its income category, destiny journal and its 5-year impact factor (IF), and research type were retrieved.
Results: The analysis comprised 1245 articles. Mean number of citations per article was 18.01 (95% confidence interval 16.46-19.55). Mean IF was 3.60 (95% confidence interval 3.25-3.95). The 5 most prolific journals had an IF <5. The journal with the highest number of articles was the Journal of Hand Surgery (American Volume) (n = 70, 5.6%). The most prolific country was the United States (n = 313, 25.1%). There were 913 articles (73.3%) from high-income countries, 246 (19.8%) from upper middle-income countries, and 68 (5.5%) from lower middle-income countries. No articles were from low-income countries. The representation of middle-income countries increased from 2.1% of published articles in 1980-1989 to 40.0% in 2010-2019. Primary research represented 64.0% (n = 797) of articles, while secondary research and case reports represented 13.0% (n = 162) and 23.0% (n = 286) of articles, respectively. Narrative reviews (n = 142, 11.4%;) and systematic reviews (n = 20, 1.6%) comprised articles from the secondary research group.
Conclusions: While high-income countries still represent the majority of publications, the contribution of researchers from middle-income countries is increasing. The most common destiny journals are field specific, with a relatively low IF. Although most articles are primary research, a representative portion have a shallow level of evidence (case reports and narrative reviews).
Keywords: Accidents; Bibliometrics; Brachial plexus; Paralysis; Peripheral nerves; Wounds and injuries.
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