A Bibliometric Analysis of the Top 100 Cited Papers in Retinal Detachment

Abstract

Purpose:

This work aimed to identify and analyze the most frequently cited articles in retinal detachment (RD).

Methods:

Institute for Scientific Information’s Web of Science index (Thomas Scientific) was used to identify the top 100 most cited articles on RD between 1900 and 2019. Data from the top 100 most cited articles that met inclusion criteria were analyzed based on title, citation frequency, authorship, institution, journal, year of publication, and country of origin.

Results:

The top 100 articles in RD were cited 88 to 480 times. Steven K. Fisher was the most cited individual, with the University of California system being the most cited organization. Sixty-four percent of the top 100 articles originated from the United States and were published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology, and Archives of Ophthalmology at frequencies of 36%, 24%, and 11%, respectively. The top funding agencies included the US Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Eye Institute at 29%, 28%, and 27%, respectively. The top-cited article, which assessed the role of the retinal pigment epithelium by histologic and electron microscopic analysis of RDs in eyes of owl monkeys, was by Machemer and Laqua in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Conclusions:

This bibliometric analysis provides researchers and clinicians with a detailed overview of the most cited manuscripts in RD. Such analyses may guide researchers and funding agencies on important research areas in the field.

Introduction

Bibliometrics, the statistical study of literature’s impact and distribution, has grown far beyond the antiquated roots of its origin. The method, created in 1934 by Paul Otlet, was designed to bridge the fields of mathematics and library science but is now used by other scientific disciplines. ^1,2 In the past 20 years, the technological boom has changed how scientific literature is consumed, moving past paper and onto online platforms. In 2014, there were about 28 100 peer-reviewed English journals and an additional 6450 non-English journals collectively publishing about 2.5 million articles per year. ³ Consequently, bibliometric studies are being used to provide centralized locations of analyzed data for research optimization. ^4,5 Several bibliometric studies concerning the field of ophthalmology have been completed; however, there have not been any bibliometric studies focused on retinal detachment (RD). ^{6 -9}

RD, the separation of the neuron-dense retina from the epithelium underlying it, poses to be an uncommon but potentially blinding condition with a 1 in 300 lifetime risk. ¹⁰ The 3 major pathogenic types—exudative, tractional, and, most commonly, rhegmatogenous—are seen individually or in combination within a patient. ^11,12 The 1-year postoperation success for RD is 90%, leaving up to 10% of patients to become negatively affected by this condition long term. ¹³ As an aging population drives demand for an increased need for ophthalmic surgery, incidence of RD increases. ^14,15 The goal of the present bibliometric study was to identify and quantify the scientific impact of the most cited literature on RD to assess research quality for this increasingly prevalent condition.

Methods

Search Strategy

Institute for Scientific Information’s Web of Science index (Thomas Scientific) was used to identify the top 100 most cited research articles on RD between the years 1900 and 2019. We selected relevant scientific articles from the database by refining our search criteria. The search strategy was to identify published scientific documents with the keyword “retinal detachment” in the title field. In addition, we further refined our search criteria to include exclusively scientific articles published in peer-reviewed ophthalmology journals. A total of 3369 of more than 11 million documents matched our criteria. The search was performed August 31, 2020.

Statistical Analysis

Data from the top 100 most cited articles that met our inclusion criteria were exported into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (Microsoft Corp) for further analysis based on the following parameters: title, citation frequency, authorship, institution, journal, year of publication, and country of origin.

In addition, the VOSviewer software tool (Leiden University) was used to construct bibliometric network maps that visualize similarities between articles. In this study, the software tool was used for analyzing and visualizing relationships between co-citation of references and co-occurrence of keywords. Only terms used a minimum of 6 times were included in this analysis. A total of 107 unique terms met this threshold. Terms were then graded by relevance and occurrence. Terms with the highest relevance score represented specific subjects investigated by these articles. Terms with the lowest relevance score represented phrases that were more general in nature.

Results

Overview of Publications on RD

The top 100 cited articles in RD were identified (Table 1). Publication dates were between 1961 to 2013 (Figure 1), and the number of citations ranged from 88 to 480 with a median of 122.5 (Table 1). The average per-year citation ranged from 1.7 to 20.9 with median of 4.8. The article with the highest citation frequency (480 citations) was “Pigment Epithelium Proliferation in Retinal Detachment (Massive Periretinal Proliferation)” by Machemer and Laqua, which was published in 1975 in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. Total citations per year for the top 100 cited papers in RD ranged from 0 to 644 from the years 1961 to 2019 with the year 2014 having the highest number of citations (Figure 2).

Table 1.

Top 100 Most Cited Articles in Retinal Detachment.

Rank	Title	Authors	Journal	Publication year	Total citations	Average citations per year
1	Pigment epithelium proliferation in retinal detachment (massive periretinal proliferation)	Machemer and Laqua	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1975	480	10.43
2	An updated classification of retinal detachment with proliferative vitreoretinopathy	Machemer et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1991	395	13.17
3	Use of liquid silicone in retinal detachment surgery	Cibis et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1962	385	6.53
4	The classification of retinal detachment with proliferative vitreoretinopathy	Hilton	Ophthalmology	1983	381	10.03
5	Scleral buckling versus primary vitrectomy in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: a prospective randomized multicenter clinical study	Heimann et al	Ophthalmology	2007	292	20.86
6	Pigment epithelial proliferation in human retinal detachment with massive peri-retinal proliferation	Machemer et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1978	282	6.56
7	Apoptotic photoreceptor degeneration in experimental retinal detachment	Cook et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1995	275	10.58
8	Tractional retinal detachment following intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy	Arevalo et al	British Journal of Ophthalmology	2008	251	19.31
9	Foveal retinoschisis and retinal detachment in severely myopic eyes with posterior staphyloma	Takano et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1999	237	10.77
10	Glial cell proliferation in retinal detachment (massive periretinal proliferation)	Laqua and Machemer	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1975	233	5.07
11	Epidemiology of retinal detachment	Haimann et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1982	203	5.21
12	Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography of retinal pigment epithelial detachment in age-related macular degeneration	Spaide	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2009	198	16.5
13	Retinal-detachment in the cat—the outer nuclear and outer plexiform layers	Erickson et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1983	198	5.21
14	Experimental retinal detachment in owl monkey .3. Electron microscopy of retina and pigment epithelium	Kroll et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	194	3.66
15	Retinal detachment in the cat—the pigment epithelial-photoreceptor interface	Anderson et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1983	191	5.03
16	Changing concepts of failures after retinal detachment surgery	Rachal et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1979	181	4.31
17	Foveal microstructure and visual acuity after retinal detachment repair imaging analysis by Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography	Wakabayashi et al	Ophthalmology	2009	178	14.83
18	Glial fibrillary acidic protein increases in Müller cells after retinal detachment	Erickson et al	Experimental Eye Research	1987	178	5.24
19	Pars plana vitrectomy without scleral buckle for pseudophakic retinal detachments	Campo et al	Ophthalmology	1999	173	7.86
20	Cystoid macular edema, retinal detachment, and glaucoma after Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy	Steinert et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1991	172	5.73
21	Prevalence and characteristics of foveal retinal detachment without macular hole in high myopia	Baba et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2003	170	9.44
22	5-Fluorouracil—new applications in complicated retinal detachment for an established antimetabolite	Blumenkranz et al	Ophthalmology	1984	168	4.54
23	Retinal pigment epithelial detachments in the elderly	Bird et al	Transactions of the Ophthalmological Societies of the United Kingdom	1986	166	4.74
24	Experimental retinal detachment in owl monkey. 2. Histology of retina and pigment epithelium	Machemer	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	166	3.13
25	Prognosis for central vision and anatomic reattachment in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with macula detached	Tani et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1981	161	4.03
26	Intraretinal proliferation induced by retinal detachment	Fisher et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1991	158	5.27
27	Peripheral retinal detachments and retinal pigment epithelial atrophic tracts secondary to central serous pigment epitheliopathy	Yannuzzi et al	Ophthalmology	1984	157	4.24
28	Glial cell-proliferation in human retinal detachment with massive peri-retinal proliferation	Vanhorn et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1977	156	3.55
29	Neurite outgrowth from bipolar and horizontal cells after experimental retinal detachment	Lewis et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1998	155	6.74
30	Muller cell and neuronal remodeling in retinal detachment and reattachment and their potential consequences for visual recovery: a review and reconsideration of recent data	Fisher et al	Vision Research	2003	154	8.56
31	Modifications to Custodis procedure for retinal detachment	Lincoff et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1965	154	2.75
32	A new approach to treating retinal detachment with macular hole	Gonvers et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1982	151	3.87
33	Changes in the expression of specific Müller cell-proteins during long-term retinal detachment	Lewis et al	Experimental Eye Research	1989	144	4.5
34	Classification of retinal pigment epithelial detachments associated with drusen	Hartnett et al	Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	1992	141	4.86
35	National outcomes of cataract-extraction—retinal detachment and endophthalmitis after outpatient cataract surgery	Javitt et al	Ophthalmology	1994	140	5.19
36	Temporary silicone oil tamponade in the Management of retinal detachment with proliferative vitreoretinopathy	Gonvers	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1985	139	3.86
37	Limiting photoreceptor death and deconstruction during experimental retinal detachment: the value of oxygen supplementation	Mervin et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1999	138	6.27
38	Primary pars plana vitrectomy versus scleral buckle surgery for the treatment of pseudophakic retinal detachment—a randomized clinical trial	Brazitikos et al	Retina	2005	137	8.56
39	Silicone oil in the repair of complex retinal detachments—a prospective observational multicenter study	Azen et al	Ophthalmology	1998	137	5.96
40	Aphakic and phakic retinal-detachment. 1. Preoperative findings	Ashrafzadeh et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1973	131	2.73
41	Retinal detachment after clear lens extraction for high myopia: seven-year follow-up	Colin et al	Ophthalmology	1999	129	5.86
42	Use of intravitreal bevacizumab as a preoperative adjunct for tractional retinal detachment repair in severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy	Chen et al	Retina	2006	128	8.53
43	Glial remodeling and neural plasticity in human retinal detachment with proliferative vitreoretinopathy	Sethi et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	2005	128	8
44	Imaging of chorioretinal anastomoses in vascularized retinal pigment epithelium detachments	Kuhn et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1995	128	4.92
45	Ocular perforation following retrobulbar anesthesia for retinal detachment surgery	Ramsay et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1978	127	2.95
46	Multiple recurrent serosanguineous retinal-pigment epithelial detachments in black women	Stern et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1985	126	3.5
47	Bilateral bullous exudative retinal detachment complicating idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy during systemic corticosteroid therapy	Gass et al	Ophthalmology	1995	124	4.77
48	Retinal pigment epithelial detachments in the elderly: classification and outcome	Casswell et al	British Journal of Ophthalmology	1985	124	3.44
49	The use of silicone oil following failed vitrectomy for retinal detachment with advanced proliferative vitreoretinopathy	McCuen et al	Ophthalmology	1985	124	3.44
50	Data on natural history of retinal detachment. Further characterization of certain unilateral nontraumatic cases	Schepens et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1966	123	2.24
51	Rapid changes in the expression of glial cell proteins caused by experimental retinal detachment	Lewis et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1994	122	4.52
52	Long-term results of vitrectomy and silicone oil in 500 cases of complicated retinal detachments	Lucke et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1987	120	3.53
53	Risk factors for retinal detachment after cataract surgery. A population-based case-control study	Tielsch et al	Ophthalmology	1996	119	4.76
54	Changes in the organization and expression of cytoskeletal proteins during retinal degeneration induced by retinal detachment	Lewis et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1995	118	4.54
55	New hypotheses on the pathogenesis and treatment of serous retinal detachment	Marmor	Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	1988	118	3.58
56	The onset of pigment epithelial proliferation after retinal detachment	Anderson et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1981	118	2.95
57	Attenuated glial reactions and photoreceptor degeneration after retinal detachment in mice deficient in glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin	Nakazawa et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	2007	117	8.36
58	Anatomic and visual outcomes of scleral buckling versus primary vitrectomy in pseudophakic and aphakic retinal detachment: six-month follow-up results of a single operation—report No. 1	Ahmadieh et al	Ophthalmology	2005	117	7.31
59	Photoreceptor apoptosis in human retinal detachment	Arroyo et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2005	117	7.31
60	Characterization of cytokine responses to retinal detachment in rats	Nakazawa et al	Molecular Vision	2006	116	7.73
61	Silicone retinopiesis for retinal detachment. A long-term clinical evaluation	Watzke et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1967	114	2.11
62	The incidence of retinal-detachment following extracapsular cataract-extraction. A 10-year study	Coonan et al	Ophthalmology	1985	113	3.14
63	Retinal detachment and narrow-angle glaucoma: secondary to inflammatory pseudotumor of uveal tract	Gass	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1967	113	2.09
64	FGFR1, signaling, and AP-1 expression after retinal detachment: reactive Müller and RPE cells	Geller et al	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	2001	110	5.5
65	Treatment of retinal detachment resulting from myopic macular hole with internal limiting membrane removal	Kadonosono et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2001	110	5.5
66	Clinical risk factors for proliferative vitreoretinopathy after retinal detachment surgery	Girard et al	Retina	1994	109	4.04
67	Prevalence, pathophysiology, and treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in treated cytomegalovirus retinitis	Freeman et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1987	109	3.21
68	Gross and microscopic pathology in autopsy eyes .3. Retinal breaks without detachment	Okun	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1961	109	1.82
69	Pigment epithelium-derived factor in the vitreous is low in diabetic retinopathy and high in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment	Ogata et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2001	108	5.4
70	Retinal detachments in patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis	Jabs et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1991	108	3.6
71	Vitrectomy without scleral buckling for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment	Escoffery et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1985	107	2.97
72	Visual recovery in macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachments	Ross et al	Ophthalmology	1998	106	4.61
73	Silicone oil in the treatment of complicated retinal detachments	Yeo et al	Ophthalmology	1987	106	3.12
74	Microincision vitrectomy surgery and intravitreal bevacizumab as a surgical adjunct to treat diabetic traction retinal detachment	Oshima et al	Ophthalmology	2009	105	8.75
75	Retinal detachment in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1976 through 1995	Rowe et al	Ophthalmology	1999	105	4.77
76	Apoptotic photoreceptor cell death after traumatic retinal detachment in humans	Chang et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1995	104	4
77	Use of perfluorohexyl octane as a long-term internal tamponade agent in complicated retinal detachment surgery	Kirchhof et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2002	103	5.42
78	Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography in patients with decreased visual acuity after retinal detachment repair	Schocket et al	Ophthalmology	2006	102	6.8
79	Silicone oil-RMN3 mixture (heavy silicone oil) as internal tamponade for complicated retinal detachment	Wolf et al	Retina	2003	102	5.67
80	National outcomes of cataract extraction. 1. Retinal detachment after inpatient surgery	Javitt et al	Ophthalmology	1991	102	3.4
81	Incidence of chronic glaucoma, retinal detachment and secondary membrane surgery in pediatric aphakic patients	Chrousos et al	Ophthalmology	1984	102	2.76
82	Optical coherence tomography in the evaluation of incomplete visual acuity recovery after macula-off retinal detachments	Wolfensberger et al	Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	2002	101	5.32
83	Experimental retinal detachment and reattachment in rhesus monkey. Electron microscopic comparison of rods and cones	Kroll et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1969	101	1.94
84	Critical role of photoreceptor apoptosis in functional damage after retinal detachment	Hisatomi et al	Current Eye Research	2002	99	5.21
85	The perfluorocarbon gases in the treatment of retinal detachment	Lincoff et al	Ophthalmology	1983	99	2.61
86	Causative factors of retinal-detachment in macular holes	Morita et al	Retina	1991	96	3.2
87	Retinal detachment due to ocular contusion	Cox et al	Archives of Ophthalmology	1966	96	1.75
88	Functional and anatomic outcome of scleral buckling versus primary vitrectomy in pseudophakic retinal detachment	Sharma et al	Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica	2005	95	5.94
89	The incidence of retinal-detachment in Rochester, Minnesota 1970-1978	Wilkes et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1982	95	2.44
90	Experimental retinal detachment in owl monkey. 4. Reattached retina	Machemer	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	95	1.79
91	The effect of duration of macular detachment on results after the scleral buckle repair of primary, macula-off retinal detachments	Hassan et al	Ophthalmology	2002	94	4.95
92	Vitrectomy for diabetic traction retinal detachment involving the macula	Rice et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1983	93	2.45
93	Natural history of retinal breaks without detachment	Davis	Archives of Ophthalmology	1974	93	1.98
94	What patients recall of the preoperative discussion after retinal detachment surgery	Priluck et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1979	92	2.19
95	Photoreceptor cell death and rescue in retinal detachment and degenerations	Murakami et al	Progress in Retinal and Eye Research	2013	90	11.25
96	Experimental retinal detachment in owl monkey. I. Methods of production and clinical picture	Machemer et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	90	1.7
97	Pars plana vitrectomy versus combined pars plana vitrectomy-scleral buckle for primary repair of pseudophakic retinal detachment	Weichel et al	Ophthalmology	2006	88	5.87
98	Limiting the proliferation and reactivity of retinal Müller cells during experimental retinal detachment: the value of oxygen supplementation	Lewis et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1999	88	4
99	Complete epiretinal membrane separation in highly myopic eyes with retinal detachment resulting from a macular hole	Oshima et al	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1998	88	3.83
100	Primary vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment	Hakin et al	Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	1993	88	3.14

Abbreviations: AP-1, activated protein 1; FGFR1, fibroblast growth factor receptor 1; RPE, retinal pigment epithelium.

Figure 1.

Bar graph showing the total publications by year for the top 100 cited manuscripts in retinal detachment between the years 1961 and 2013.

Figure 2.

Number of citations per year for the top 100 cited manuscripts in retinal detachment.

The articles were published in 14 journals (Table 2). The journal with the highest number of publications (n = 36) was the American Journal of Ophthalmology, followed by Ophthalmology (n = 24) and Archives of Ophthalmology (n = 11). Twenty countries were represented (Table 3), with the highest number of publications coming from the United States (n = 64), followed by Japan (n = 11) and England (n = 4). Sixty-nine funding agencies were identified, and the highest number of publications were funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services (n = 29), followed by the National Institutes of Health (n = 28) and the National Eye Institute (n = 27) (Table 4). There were 107 affiliated organizations identified, with the highest number of publications coming from the University of California system (n = 39), followed by Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami (n = 15) and Harvard University (n = 8) (Table 5). A total of 315 authors were identified, with the most publications coming from Steven K. Fisher (n = 14), Robert Machemer (n = 12), and Geoffrey P. Lewis (n = 10) (Table 6).

Table 2.

Journals.

Rank	Source titles	Top 100 publications
1	American Journal of Ophthalmology	36
2	Ophthalmology	24
3	Archives of Ophthalmology	11
4	Investigative Ophthalmology Visual Science	10
5	Retina the Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases	5
6	Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	4
7	British Journal of Ophthalmology	2
8	Experimental Eye Research	2
9	Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica	1
10	Current Eye Research	1
11	Molecular Vision	1
12	Progress in Retinal and Eye Research	1
13	Transactions of The Ophthalmological Societies of The United Kingdom	1
14	Vision Research	1

Table 3.

Countries.

Rank	Countries	Top 100 publications
1	USA	64
2	Japan	11
3	England	6
4	France	4
5	Australia	3
6	Germany	3
7	Switzerland	3
8	German Federal Republic	2
9	Iran	2
10	Argentina	1
11	Brazil	1
12	Canada	1
13	Costa Rica	1
14	Greece	1
15	Hong Kong	1
16	India	1
17	Netherlands	1
18	Sweden	1
19	Taiwan	1
20	Venezuela	1

Table 4.

Funding Agencies.

Rank	Funding agencies	Top 100 publications
1	United States Department of Health Human Services	29
2	National Institutes of Health (NIH)	28
3	National Eye Institute–NIH	27
4	Agency for Healthcare Research Quality	3
5	United States Public Health Service	3
6	Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technology Japan	2
7	National Center for Research Resources–NIH	2
8	Foundation Lions Eye Research Fund	1
9	National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal Skin Diseases–NIH	1
10	National Institute of Diabetes Digestive Kidney Diseases–NIH	1
11	National Institute of General Medical Sciences–NIH	1
12	Rena Family Foundation	1
13	Research to Prevent Blindness	1
14	Yeatts Family Foundation	1

Table 5.

Organizations.

Rank	Organizations	Top 100 publications
1	University of California system	39
2	Bascom Palmer Eye Institute	15
3	Harvard University	8
4	Johns Hopkins University	7
5	Johns Hopkins Medicine	5
6	Massachusetts Eye Ear Infirmary	5
7	US Department of Veterans Affairs	5
8	Veterans Health Administration	5
9	Georgetown University	4
10	Mayo Clinic	4
11	Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	4
12	University College London	4
13	University of London	4
14	Duke University	3
15	Kyushu University	3
16	Osaka University	3
17	Schepens Eye Research Institute	3
18	University of Southern California	3
19	University of Sydney	3
20	Eberhard Karls University Hospital	2
21	Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen	2
22	Eye Research Institute	2

Table 6.

Authors.

Rank	Authors	Top 100 publications
1	Fisher	14
2	Machemer	12
3	Lewis	10
4	Anderson	7
5	Erickson	6
6	Oshima	4
7	Robertson	4
8	Stern	4
9	Aaberg	3
10	Borgula	3
11	Chen	3
12	Gonvers	3
13	Guerin	3
14	Hisatomi	3
15	Javitt	3
16	Laqua	3
17	Miller	3
18	Nakazawa	3
19	Schepens	3
20	Tano	3
21	Bird	2
22	Burton	2
23	Fisher	2
24	Flynn	2
25	Foerster	2

Bibliometric Maps of Coauthors and Keywords

Bibliometric maps created by VOSviewer software gave us the means to visualize associations between the top 100 cited RD articles. A coauthorship analysis was used to portray the collaboration between researchers and institutions. A total of 315 authors who contributed to the top 100 most cited articles on RD research were divided into 23 different clusters (Figure 3). Each cluster included a minimum of 5 coauthors who were linked by shared publications. The size of each circle was dependent on the “total link strength,” or the total number of publications each author shared. Figure 3 arranges the clusters as follows: cluster 1 (yellow) includes 24 authors and is represented by Fisher and associates; cluster 2 (green) includes 27 authors and is led by Machemer; cluster 3 (red) includes 27 authors and is headed by Oshima; cluster 4 (aqua) includes 15 authors and is represented by Robertson; and cluster 5 (purple) includes 17 authors and is led by Javitt.

Figure 3.

Network analysis demonstrating the associations between coauthors of the top 100 cited manuscripts in retinal detachment. Each circle represents 1 author, and the size of the circle indicates total link strength, which was determined by the number of co-authorships between authors.

The co-occurrence network map presents the terms most commonly used in titles and abstracts from the top 100 articles (Figure 4). The top 10 terms with the highest relevance score included tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, TNF-beta, multifocal choroiditis (MCP), photoreceptor degeneration, immunohistochemistry, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), outer nuclear layer (ONL), expression, mµg/mL, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The top 10 most frequent terms were eye, retinal detachment (RD), patient, surgery, group, day, detachment, retina, visual acuity, and rate.

Figure 4.

Network analysis demonstrating the most commonly used keywords in titles and abstracts from manuscripts in the top 100 cited manuscripts in retinal detachment. The size of the circle represents the number of occurrences of the word within the circle.

BCVA, best-corrected visual acuity; BFGF, basic fibroblast growth factor; CLE, clear lens extraction; DMD, Duchenne muscular dystrophy; FD OCT, frequency domain OCT; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; MCP, multifocal choroiditis and panuveitis; OCT, optical coherence tomography; ONL, outer nuclear layer; PPV, pars plana vitrectomy; PVR, proliferative vitreoretinopathy; RPE, retinal pigment epithelium; TNF alpha, tumor necrosis factor α; TRD, tractional retinal detachment.

Conclusions

Our analysis has identified the top 100 most cited articles in RD research. It not only provides a unique insight into the history and development of research in RD but also identifies qualities that are shared among the most cited articles. In addition, the present study provides quantitative data on contributions that authors, institutions, journals, and countries have made to advance research in this field.

The number of citations for an article has become a measure of the impact that the article has on the field and a valuable tool for assessing journals and authors. ¹⁶ It should be noted that citation count is affected by the date of publication, with older articles having more time to accrue more citations compared with those recently published. To account for this, we assessed average citations per year and found that the most cited articles still had a relatively high number of average citations per year. However, there were a few exceptions. For example, “Photoreceptor Cell Death and Rescue in Retinal Detachment and Degenerations” by Murakami et al, an article published in 2013, was the 95th most cited article despite having the fifth highest average of citations per year. Our analysis found, however, that the overall citation rate of an article was independent of its publication date.

Among the top 100 articles in RD, we found that there was a relatively equal distribution of articles published per decade. This was in contrast to bibliometric studies published in other fields such as orthopedics, ¹⁷ neurosurgery, ¹⁸ and general surgery, ¹⁹ for which the peak publication period was between 1965 and 1980, and cardiology, which peaked between 2001 and 2010. ^{17 -20} This suggested that the field of ophthalmology continues to rapidly advance each decade, which is not surprising considering the incorporation of evolving technology in the diagnosis and management of ophthalmologic diseases.

Papers were categorized into 4 research types: clinical trials, clinical experience, basic sciences, and other. ²¹ Their distribution is represented in Figure 5. The clinical experience category included case series (n = 13), retrospective analyses/studies (n = 30), and observational (cohort, cross-sectional, case-control) studies (n = 13). The basic science category included animal research (n = 24), pathology (n = 3), and physiologic studies (n = 1). The other category consisted of review (n = 6) and perspective (n = 6) papers. We suspect the low frequency of clinical trials is owing to the inherent difficulty of designing a clinical trial for management of RD. Interestingly, there was a high frequency of clinical experience studies that described various outcomes from different surgical procedures, techniques, and approaches.

Figure 5.

Pie chart showing the percentage distribution of article types among the top 100 cited articles.

Papers were also assessed based on the different types of RD (rhegmatogenous, tractional, exudative, and experimental) among the top 100 articles. Rhegmatogenous (n = 52) was the most frequent, followed by experimental (n = 23), exudative (n = 10), and tractional (n = 6) (Figure 6). Macular degeneration (n = 2) and central serous chorioretinopathy (n = 2) were the most common disorders in papers on exudative RD, and diabetic retinopathy (n = 4), proliferative vitreoretinopathy (n = 3), and complex RDs (n = 3) were the most common in papers on tractional RD.

Figure 6.

Pie chart showing the percentage distribution of articles by type of retinal detachment.

The top 3 authors contributed more than one-third of the top 100 articles with a total of 34.4% of citations, highlighting how relatively few authors substantially contribute to their field of research. The top 5 most cited authors included Fisher, Machemer, Lewis, Don H. Anderson, and Page A. Erickson. These authors were also found to be the most collaborative authors per network analysis (see Figure 3). The late Machemer, who was affiliated with Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami and later Duke University, is known as the “father of modern retinal surgery,” authoring 12 of the 100 most cited articles, including the top 2. His most cited work provided an update on the classification of proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Fisher, Lewis, Anderson, and Erickson are affiliated with the University of California Santa Barbara. Combined, their work contributed to 37 of the 100 most cited articles.

In our study, the United States (64%) was the most frequent country of origin for the top 100 articles on RD. This was consistent with other bibliometric lists that show the United States was contributing most of the articles. ^{17,20,22 -24}

Japan was the next highest output country, which may be a consequence of the availability of resources to the researchers. Of the top 14 funding agencies we identified, 13 (93%) originated from the United States. The other funder—the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology—originated from Japan and ranked 6. A study of ophthalmology research in Canada demonstrated that institutional funding and activity of individual researchers were important factors associated with research output. ⁹ A study comparing funding for global medical research in 2011 found that the United States contributed 44% of overall global funding. Japan followed in third place, behind all of Europe, with a contribution of 14%. ²⁵ This is similar to our findings, in which the United States and Japan lead the world in publishing the most cited articles on retinal detachment.

In our study, the most cited RD articles were nearly always published in American journals, which was consistent with a bibliometric analysis on dry eye research. ⁸ The top 100 cited articles were published in only 14 journals, and more than 80% of the articles were published in 3 journals: American Journal of Ophthalmology (36%), Ophthalmology (24%), and Archives of Ophthalmology (11%). These journals have some of the highest rankings among ophthalmology journals; authors of high-quality material publish to these journals, thereby maintaining the journals’ status. Our findings also supported the application of Bradford’s law, a bibliometric concept that states that investigators tend to cite articles from a few core journals in their field of expertise. ²⁶

Limitations

Our study had several limitations. The present analysis used only a single electronic search database and excluded textbooks. Different databases have been reported to display varying citation results, and using different databases could have yielded a different list of the most cited articles. ^27,28 The key words used in the database search may have excluded other relevant articles that did not include the specific search terms and thus were not detected. The citation analysis also did not consider self-citation when assessing citation count. Finally, bibliometric studies tend to favor older published articles and may omit landmark articles from the last 10 years. ^29,30 Because articles were sorted by citation number, the latest published articles with high academic influence may have been missed in this study. Different analysis methods such as the altmetric score, which measures the impact of an individual article’s dissemination, may more accurately assess total overall readership rather than the number of citations in traditional journals. ³¹

Summary

This bibliometric analysis provides researchers and clinicians a list of the top 100 articles in RD research and provides useful insights into the history of RD research over the last century. It is important for trainees to be aware of these key papers, which ultimately steer the diagnosis and management of RD. Such analyses may guide researchers and funding agencies on important research areas in the field.