Original article
Characteristics and Longevity of Electronic Citations in Four Leading Biomedical Journals in SpainCaracterísticas y evolución temporal de las citas electrónicas de cuatro de las principales revistas biomédicas españolas

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rec.2014.01.029Get rights and content

Abstract

Introduction and objectives

We aimed to determine the frequency of use and accessibility over time of electronic citations in Revista Española de Cardiología and 3 other Spanish biomedical journals, and to identify the factors that influence the accessibility and retrievability of these links.

Methods

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed of all the references in articles published in the first issue of each even year from 2002 to 2012 in selected journals. Data were collected on the journal, publication, references, and links. The variables analyzed were the percentage of articles with at least 1 electronic citation, the percentage of electronic citations with respect to the total number of citations in the full sample, and the percentages of link accessibility and retrievability.

Results

We included 377 articles, of which 73 (19.4%; 95% confidence interval, 15.2%-23.5%) had at least 1 electronic citation, and a total of 7077 references, of which 164 (2.3%; 95% confidence interval, 2.0%-2.7%) were electronic citations. Revista Española de Cardiología had 17 (15.2%) and 38 (1.3%), respectively. Use of electronic citations significantly increased over time (linear tendency, P < .001); 58 (35.4%; 95% confidence interval, 27.7%-43.0%), links were accessible, and information was retrieved in 55 cases (51.9%; 95% confidence interval, 41.9%-61.9%). Accessibility significantly decreased over time (linear tendency, P < .001); 45 electronic citations (27.5%; 95% confidence interval, 20.3%-34.6%) had complete additional information. Retrievability was significantly associated with the amount of additional information (linear tendency, P < .001).

Conclusions

Electronic citations are increasingly used in some Spanish biomedical journals. Access to electronic citations is lost over time, and the probability of its retrieval is associated with the existence of additional information.

Resumen

Introducción y objetivos

El objetivo es determinar la frecuencia de uso y la disponibilidad en función del tiempo de las citas electrónicas recogidas en Revista Española de Cardiología y otras tres revistas biomédicas españolas, así como los factores que pueden influir en la disponibilidad y la recuperabilidad de los enlaces.

Métodos

Estudio descriptivo transversal que incluyó todas las citas de los trabajos publicados en el primer número del año de las revistas seleccionadas en los años pares desde 2002 hasta 2012. Se recogieron datos de revista, publicación, citas y enlaces. Las variables resultado fueron: porcentaje de artículos con al menos una cita electrónica, porcentaje de cita electrónica respecto al total de citas y porcentaje de accesibilidad y recuperabilidad de los enlaces.

Resultados

Se incluyeron 377 trabajos, de los que 73 (19,4%; intervalo de confianza del 95%, 15,2-23,5) incluyeron al menos una cita electrónica, y 7.077 citas bibliográficas, de las que 164 (2,3%; intervalo de confianza del 95%, 2,0-2,7) fueron citas electrónicas. Revista Española de Cardiología incluyó 17 (15,2%) y 38 (1,3%) respectivamente. La frecuencia de uso se incrementó significativamente con el tiempo (tendencia lineal, p < 0,001); 58 (35,4%; intervalo de confianza del 95%, 27,7-43,0) enlaces estaban accesibles y la información se recuperó en 55 casos (51,9%; intervalo de confianza del 95%, 41,9-61,9). La disponibilidad disminuyó significativamente con el tiempo (tendencia lineal, p < 0,001); 45 citas electrónicas (27,5%; intervalo de confianza del 95%, 20,3-34,6) presentaban toda la información adicional. La recuperabilidad se ha relacionado significativamente con la cantidad de información adicional (tendencia lineal, p < 0,001).

Conclusiones

Se está haciendo un uso cada vez más frecuente de citas electrónicas en ciertas revistas biomédicas españolas. La disponibilidad se pierde con el tiempo, y la probabilidad de recuperarla se relaciona con la información adicional.

Section snippets

INTRODUCTION

Electronic citations (EC) have become more common in biomedical journal publications in the past decade. In 2003, a study of 3 international, high-impact journals reported that 30% of articles contained at least 1 EC, accounting for 2.6% of all references at that time.1 Electronic citations are now used to such an extent that they are ranked third in terms of reference type, after biomedical journal articles and books.2

Electronic resources have major advantages over traditional print

Study Design

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed using systematic sampling to cover all the references in articles published in the first issue of each even year from 2002 to 2012 in REC, Emergencias, Revista Clínica Española and Medicina Clínica. We selected these Spanish medical journals due to their wide dissemination and scientific impact in 2011 (with respective impact factors for that year of 2.530, 2.486, 2.008, and 1.385, and quartile scores of Q2, Q1, Q2 and Q2 in their subject

Frequency of Electronic Citations

We included 377 published articles, with a total of 7077 references. There were 73 articles (19.4%; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 15.2%-23.5%) with at least 1 EC. Among the full sample, 164 (2.3%; 95%CI, 2.0%-2.7%) were ECs. The EC percentage differed significantly among the journals (P = .009) and was lower in REC than in Medicina Clínica and Emergencias (P < .05) (Table 1).

At least 1 EC was present in almost half the special articles (Table 2). The percentage of ECs was highest in special

DISCUSSION

The first important finding in this study is that the frequency of EC use has increased markedly over the years. However, although 19.4% of articles had at least 1 EC (increasing to 27.3% in 2012), EC frequency compared with total references is still negligible (2.2% in total, and 3.5% in 2012). The percentage of ECs in REC was notably lower than in the other journals, although it has increased more over time than in the non-REC group. We found that the number of ECs was influenced by the type

CONCLUSIONS

Despite these limitations, this study reflects the growing presence of ECs in some Spanish biomedical journals, and in REC in particular, as well as reduced link accessibility over time. The EC quality is far from optimal, and errors often make it impossible to access the information in references. Finally, this study shows that if the link does not directly open the document in question, ECs can be retrieved more readily if they contain recommended additional information. For this reason,

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

None declared.

Acknowledgments

This study has been funded in part by a grant awarded by Generalitat de Catalunya SGR 2009/1385 to the Grupo de Investigación Consolidado “Urgencias: procesos y patologías”. (“Emergencies: processes and pathologies” Consolidated Research Group).

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