Editorial Open Access
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 1, 2004; 10(9): 1233-1237
Published online May 1, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i9.1233
A total of 484 articles published in World Journal of Gastroenterology are cited by 361 ISI-SCI covered journals distributed in 38 countries during 1998-2003
Lian-Sheng Ma, Bo-Rong Pan, The WJG Press, PO Box 2345, Beijing 100023, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.30224801
Correspondence to: Lian-Sheng Ma, MD, The WJG Press, PO Box 2345, Beijing 100023, China. wjg@wjgnet.com
Telephone: +86-10-85381901 Fax: +86-10-85381893
Received: March 20, 2003
Revised: November 1, 2003
Accepted: April 11, 2004
Published online: May 1, 2004

Abstract

Articles published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG) have been cited by 361 SCI covered journals, 44.59% of which are journals in the USA and 3.60% in China. Authors from 484 institutions have cited WJG, in which 22.58% of them are in the USA and 18.84% in China. The highest impact factor of SCI journals that have cited WJG is 28.740 (Nature Medicine), with 52.95% (n=170) of journals with an impact factor over 2.0. The total citation times of articles published in WJG during 1998-2003 were 484. The total citation times in 2003 were 2736 with 73.24% (2004) self-citation, 1486 in 2002 with 94.27% (1401) self-citation, 537 in 2001 with 92.92% (499) self-citation, 238 in 2000 with 92.43% (220) self-citation and 24 in 1999 with 33.33% (8) self-citation. Articles published in WJG in 2002 were cited 85 times by other SCI covered journals, and 82 articles were cited. The number was increased to 372 and 332 for articles published in 2003, respectively, with increase rates of 337.64% and 304.87%, respectively. Authors who have cited WJG are from 37 countries, and the journals that have cited WJG are from 21 countries. A total of 1 020 (57.46%) articles published in WJG were supported by international or national grants. Authors of WJG articles are from 40 countries. Articles published in issues 5-12 in 2003 have been downloaded 53 476 times online. In 2002, WJG was awarded a special grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China. Generally, the percentage of the self-citation times of articles published in WJG declined from 94.27% in 2002 to 73.24% in 2003. Meanwhile, article numbers and times cited by other SCI covered journals rose to 304.87% and 337.64% respectively. The above data suggested that the WJG underwent rapid development in 2003 with a significant increase in both numbers of cited articles and times of citation.




INTRODUCTION

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG ISSN-1007-9327) is an international academic journal in digestology published in China. The WJG was established in 1995 under the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology, and adapted its present title in 1998[1]. The WJG, now published semimonthly by the WJG Press, is a 210 mm × 297 mm-sized journal with 160 pages in each issue. The Journal is distributed by the Beijing Newspaper and Periodical Subscription and Distribution Bureau (Postal Issuance Code 82-261). In response to continuing growth in both basic and clinical studies on digestive diseases and the increasing demands for the international exchange in science and technology, the WJG will be published weekly from January 2005, with 160 pages in each issue. The publication dates are on the 7th, 14th, 21th and 28th of each month. Center for Information Analysis, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China conducted a general assessment on the SCI citation, source of manuscripts, and grant support of the articles published in the WJG during 1998-2004 (issues 1-6), based on the information from ISI SCI, ISI JCR and Citation Report of Chinese Journals of Science and Technology. The assessment report is as follows.

CITATIONS OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG BY SCI COVERED JOURNALS

Articles published in WJG have been cited 5 021 times, of which the total citation times in 2003 were 2 736 with 73.24% (2004) self-citation, 1 486 in 2002 with 94.27% (1401) self-citation, 537 in 2001 with 92.92% (499) self-citation, 238 in 2000 with 92.43% (220) self-citation and 24 in 1999 with 33.33% (8) self-citation. Citations have been consistently increasing. However, the increase in self-citations is signifi-cantly lower than the increase in total citations (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Figure 1 Increase in self-citations is significantly lower than the increase in total citations.
CHANGING TREND IN OVERALL TIMES AND NUMBERS OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG CITED BY SCI COVERED JOURNALS

Articles published in WJG in 2002 were cited by other SCI covered journals 85 times, and 82 articles were cited. The numbers were increased to 372 and 332 for articles published in 2003, respectively, with an increase rate of 338% and 305%, respectively (Figure 2, Table 1).

Table 1 Overall times and numbers of articles cited by other SCI covered journals.
Year200320022001200019991998
Number of cited articles332823817160
Number of citations372853818160
Figure 2
Figure 2 Changing trend in overall times and numbers of articles published in WJG between 1998 and 2003 cited by other SCI covered journals.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND NUMBERS OF SCI COVERED JOURNALS THAT HAVE CITED ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

Overall, 361 SCI covered journals in 21 countries including 161 (44.59%) journals in the USA have cited articles published in WJG (Table 2).

Table 2 Geographic distribution and numbers of SCI covered journals that have cited articles published in WJG between 1998 and February 2004.
ListCountryNumber of journals
1United States161
2United Kingdom78
3Netherlands24
4Germany15
5China13
6Switzerland8
7Denmark7
8France7
9Greece6
10Australia5
11Japan5
12Ireland4
13Poland3
14Italy3
15Spain3
16Norway2
17Brazil2
18South Korea2
19Singapore1
20India1
21Austria1
IMPACT FACTORS OF SCI COVERED JOURNALS THAT HAVE CITED ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

Overall, 361 SCI covered journals have cited articles published in WJG between 1998 and February 2004 (Table 3). Of these journals 321 (88.92%) with an impact factor ranged from 0.160 (Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics) to 28.740 (Nutare Medicine). The impact factor was not available for other 40 journals. The impact factors of the 321 journals are shown in Figure 3.

Table 3 Impact factors of SCI covered journals that have cited articles published in WJG.
Impact factorNumber of journals (%)
20.699-28.7404 (1.24)
10.321-18.77212 (3.73)
6.073-9.82520 (6.23)
5.095-5.99114 (6.30)
4.039-4.97419 (7.88)
3.008-3.99146 (14.33)
2.013-2.98055 (17.13)
1.000-1.99078 (24.29)
0.160-0.99673 (22.74)
Figure 3
Figure 3 Geographic distribution of authors and articles in other SCI covered journals that have cited articles published in WJG.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF AUTHORS AND ARTICLES IN OTHER SCI COVERED JOURNALS THAT HAVE CITED ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

Overall, 484 articles by authors of SCI covered journals from 37 countries have cited articles published in WJG, of which 133 (22.58%) were from the United States and 111 (18.84%) from China (Figure 3 and Table 4).

Table 4 Geographic distribution of authors and articles in other SCI covered journals that have cited articles published in WJG.
ListCountry of authorsNumber of articles
1United States133
2China111
3Japan38
4Germany35
5United Kingdom35
6Italy17
7France15
8Australia11
9Spain10
10Sweden8
11Poland7
12South Korea7
13Netherlands7
14Canada7
15Belgium5
16Singapore4
17Austria3
18Greece3
19Hungary3
20Ireland2
21Brazil2
22Finland2
23Norway2
24Switzerland2
25Turkey2
26India2
27Czech Republic1
28Croatia1
29Slovakia1
30Argentina1
31Pakistan1
32Denmark1
33Cuba1
34Malaysia1
35South Africa1
36Thailand1
37New zealand1
DISTRIBUTION OF INSTITUTIONS OF AUTHORS WHO HAVE CITED ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

The authors who have cited articles published in WJG between 1998 and 2003 are from 484 institutions, including the world famous universities and institutes such as Washington University, Yale University, Cornell University, University of Minnesota, Stanford University, University of California, National Institute of Health and University of London (Table 5).

Table 5 Distribution of institutions of authors who have cited articles published in WJG.
ListCountryHigher educational institutionsResearch institutionsMedical institutionsCompaniesNumber of articles
1United States91131811133
2China891363111
3Japan3042238
4Germany2743135
5United Kingdom2423433
6Italy1330117
7France555015
8Australia713011
9Spain712010
10Canada22127
CITING STATUS OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

Self-citations have been decreased from 6.19 per article published in WJG in 2002 to 3.16 in 2003 and 3.15 in February 2004. The rate decreased from 12.68% in 2001 to 8.84% and 8.61%, respectively, in 2003 and 2004 (Figure 4 and Table 6).

Figure 4
Figure 4 Citing status of articles published in WJG.
Table 6 Citing status of articles published in WJG.
YearVolumeIssueArticlesTotal citationsAverage citations per articleSelf citationsAverage self citation per articleSelf citation rate (%)
199841-6183211511.55000
199951-6146212514.5580.050.37
200061-6212620529.262201.033.54
200171-6173888451.354992.885.61
200281-62261144450.6314016.1912.68
200391-126342265735.7320043.168.84
2004101-6201730936.546303.158.61
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND GRANT INFORMATION OF MANUSCRIPTS ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION IN WJG

Of the 1775 articles published from 1998 to issue 6, 2004, 1020 (57.46%) were supported by various international and national research grants (Figure 5, Figure 6, and Figure 7).

Figure 5
Figure 5 Geographic distribution of authors of manuscripts accepted for publication in WJG.
Figure 6
Figure 6 Numbers and percentage of articles with research grants published in WJG.
Figure 7
Figure 7 Number and percentage of the National Natural Science Foundation of China articles supported by published in WJG.
ONLINE VISITING AND DOWNLOADING OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

A total of 436 articles published in issues 5-12, 2003 have been downloaded online with a total downloading number of 53476 times. One article has been downloaded 2255 times[2] (Table 7).

Table 7 Online visiting and downloading of articles published in WJG.
Total articlesArticles visitedArticles downloadedTotal visitsTotal downloadsAverage visits per articleAverage downloads per article
603582582127 76064 145219.51110.21
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF AUTHORS OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN WJG

Authors of WJG are from 40 countries (Table 8).

Table 8 Geographic distribution and numbers of authors of articles published in WJG.
ListCountryNumber
1China8 232
2Japan198
3United States190
4Germany125
5Turkey116
6Italy106
7United Kingdom69
8Singapore50
9South Korea39
10Hungary35
11Australia32
12Poland29
13Belgium23
14India21
15South africa20
16Netherlands17
17Brazil16
18Greece16
19Sweden15
20Finland14
21Thailand14
22Canada13
23Iran13
24Pakistan11
25Yugoslavia11
26Spain11
27Israel11
28Argentina9
29Russia9
30Croatia8
31Ireland6
32Saudi Arabia5
33France4
34Norway4
35Switzerland3
36New Zealand2
37Egypt1
38Estonia1
39Denmark1
40Dominica1
HONORS AWARDED TO WJG

The WJG is nationally recognized as a core journal in national natural science and an outstanding journal in science and technology, with an honor of the 2nd National Journal Award, and was listed as one of the 100 most important journals in China. In 2001, it was selected into the China Journal Square consisting of “200” journals. It was awarded a specific project grant as one of the key academic journals by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2002 (Project Grant No. 30224801).

OVERALL ASSESSMENT COMMENTS

(1) Total citation times of articles published in WJG in January and February 2004 by SCI covered journals were 560, in which self-citation rate was 77.67% (435). The total citation times in 2003 were 2736 with 73.24% (2004) self-citation, 1486 in 2002 with 94.27% (1401) self-citation, 537 in 2001 with 92.92% (499) self-citation, 238 in 2000 with 92.43% (220) self-citation and 42 in 1999 with 33.33% (8) self-citation. No data were available in 1998; (2) Article number and times cited by other SCI covered journals were 82 and 85 in 2002, 332 and 372 in 2003, and 104 and 125 in January and February 2004, respectively; (3) Overall, 361 SCI covered journals in 21 countries including 161 (44.59%) journals in the United States have cited articles published in WJG; (4) Journals that have cited WJG include 11 SCI covered journals with a high impact factor; i.e., Nature Medicine (IF 28.740), Cell (IF 27.254), Nature Reviews Neuroscience (IF 24.047), Nature Cell Biology (IF 20.699), Gene and Development (IF 18.772), Lancet (IF 15.397), Nature Neuroscience (IF 14.857), Neuron (IF 13.846), Nature Reviews Cancer (IF 13.625), Gastroenterology (IF 13.440) and Hepatology (IF 9.825). The impact factors of the journals that have cited WJG are as follows: 20.699-28.740 (4, 1.24%), 10.321-18.772 (12, 3.73%), 6.073-9.825 (20, 6.23%), 5.095-5.991 (14, 6.30%), 4.039-4.974 (19, 7.88%), 3.008-3.991 (46, 14.33%), 2.013-2.980 (55, 17.13%), 1.000-1.990 (78, 24.29%) and 0.160-0.996 (73, 22.74%); (5) Overall, 484 articles by authors of SCI covered journals from 37 countries have cited articles published in WJG; 133 (22.58%) from the United States and 111 (18.84%) from China; (6) The authors who have cited WJG are from 484 research institutions, including the world famous universities and institutes, such as Washington University School of Medicine, Yale University, Cornell University, University of Minnesota, Stanford University Center of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, National Institute of Health and Imperial College, University of London; (7) Self-citations have decreased from 6.19 per article published in WJG in 2002 to 3.16 in 2003 and 3.15 in February 2004; (8) Of the 1775 articles published from 1998 to issue 6, 2004, 1020 (57.46%) were supported by various international and national research grants; (9) Authors of WJG are from 40 countries; (10) A total of 436 articles published in issues 5-12, 2003 have been downloaded online with a total downloading number of 53476 times. One article has been downloaded 2255 times[2]; and (11) In 2002, WJG was awarded a special grant (No. 30224801) from National Natural Science Foundation of China.

In conclusion, WJG has been established its position as a regional and international English journal in gastroenterology, with increasing international influence. Despite high self citations over the past years, it appears that both self citations and self citation rate are rapidly decreasing.

Footnotes

Edited by Xia HHX, Wang XL, Zhang JZ Proofread by Xu FM

References
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