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Cited by 168scientometrics and bibliometrics researchAcademic Writing and PublishingAcademic Publishing and Open Access

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The Impact of Article Length on the Number of Future Citations: A Bibliometric Analysis of General Medicine Journals

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Falagas, Matthew E., Zarkali, Angeliki, Karageorgopoulos, Drosos E., Bardakas, Vangelis, Mavros, Michael N.·2013·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0049476PMC PMC3566179
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The number of citations received is considered an index of study quality and impact. We aimed to examine the factors associated with the number of citations of published articles, focusing on the article length. METHODS: Original human studies published in the first trimester of 2006 in 5 major General Medicine journals were analyzed with regard to the number of authors and of author-affiliated institutions, title and abstract word count, article length (number of print pages), number of bibliographic references, study design, and 2006 journal impact factor (JIF). A multiple linear regression model was employed to identify the variables independently associated with the number of article citations received through January 2012. RESULTS: On univariate analysis the JIF, number of authors, article length, study design (interventional/observational and prospective/retrospective), title and abstract word count, number of author-affiliated institutions, and number of references were all associated with the number of citations received. On multivariate analysis with the logarithm of citations as the dependent variable, only article length [regression coefficient: 14.64 (95% confidence intervals: (5.76-23.50)] and JIF [3.37 (1.80-4.948)] independently predicted the number of citations. The variance of citations explained by these parameters was 51.2%. CONCLUSION: In a sample of articles published in major General Medicine journals, in addition to journal impact factors, article length and number of authors independently predicted the number of citations. This may reflect a higher complexity level and quality of longer and multi-authored studies.

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Figure 1 Correlation between the article length (number of print pages) and future article citations. Results from the multivariate regression analysis. The dots represent the individual pairs for the X–Y variables; the straight line is the linear regression line; the dotted lines represent the 95% confidence interval for the regression line. The different journals with their individual IF are shown in different colours.
Figure 1 Correlation between the article length (number of print pages) and future article citations. Results from the multivariate regression analysis. The dots represent the individual pairs for the X–Y variables; the straight line is the linear regression line; the dotted lines represent the 95% confidence interval for the regression line. The different journals with their individual IF are shown in different colours.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 Correlation between the impact factor of the journal of publication and future article citations. Results from the multivariate regression analysis. The dots represent the individual pairs for the X–Y variables; the straight line is the linear regression line; the dotted lines represent the 95% confidence interval for the regression line.
Figure 2 Correlation between the impact factor of the journal of publication and future article citations. Results from the multivariate regression analysis. The dots represent the individual pairs for the X–Y variables; the straight line is the linear regression line; the dotted lines represent the 95% confidence interval for the regression line.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Metadata

Authors
Falagas, M. E., Zarkali, A., Karageorgopoulos, D. E., Bardakas, V., & Mavros, M. N.
Affiliations
  • Tufts University (US)
  • Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences (GR)
  • Hygeia Hospital (GR)
  • National Technical University of Athens (GR)
Corresponding author
Falagas, Matthew E.
ORCID
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2013-02-06
Volume
8
Issue
2
Pages
e49476
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0049476
PMC
PMC3566179
OpenAlex
W2059156680
Cited by
168
References
29
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 4
FWCI
10.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Academic Writing and Publishing
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Academic Publishing and Open Access
Keywords
article length, citation impact, journal impact factor, number of authors, bibliographic references, research design, general medicine journals, research quality indicators
MeSH terms
Equipment Design, Humans, Publishing, Research, Bibliometrics, Journal Impact Factor

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