This review examines the effect of publishing case reports on journal impact factor and future research. All case reports published in the four major English language oral and maxillofacial surgery journals in the two year period, 2007-2008, were searched manually. The citation data of each case report were retrieved from the ISI online database. The number, percentage and mean citations received by case reports and their relation to the 2009 journal impact factor were analysed. Case reports which received more than 5 citations were also identified and all of the citing articles retrieved and analysed. Thirty-one percent of all articles published in major oral and maxillofacial journals in 2007-2008 were case reports. Case reports had a low citation rate with a mean citation of less than 1. There were 38 (7.2%) case reports with more than 5 citations and 30% of the citing articles were also case reports. The publication of case reports negatively affected journal impact factor which correlated directly with the percentage of case reports published within a journal. Case reports reporting recent topics, describing new treatment/diagnosis method and with a literature review were more likely to receive citations.
This study was performed to assess changes over time in the quality of research in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) by examining the level of evidence of published articles. A secondary aim was to determine the relationship of the journal impact factor to these levels of evidence. The four major OMS journals with an impact factor were assessed. Articles published in 2017 and 2018 were categorized based on their level of evidence, and their correlation with the 2019 journal impact factor was investigated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rho). The total number of published articles increased by a factor of 2.4 over a 15-year period, from 932 in 2002-2003 to 2253 in 2017-2018. The percentage of articles increased by 1.0% for level I evidence, 3.4% for level II, 8.2% for level III, and 4.1% for level IV. Non-evidence articles reduced by 16.7%. All journals showed an increase in impact factor, and a significant correlation was noted between the proportion of published higher-level evidence articles and the impact factor over time (rho=0.811, P=0.001). It is concluded that OMS journals currently display a higher proportion of good quality articles leading to a better impact factor than 15 years ago.
This systematic review aimed to answer the clinical question, "What is the current risk of developing osteoradionecrosis of the jaws among irradiated head and neck cancer patients?"
This study evaluated and compared the long-term donor-site morbidity of the free fibula flap with the deep circumflex iliac artery (DCIA) flap in maxillofacial reconstruction.