A bibliometric analysis of articles identified by editors as representing excellence in nursing publication: Replication and extension

Aims To analyse subsequent citations of 91 articles identified by editors as reflecting excellence in nursing literature and in a companion dataset of 82 other articles from the same journals; and to compare the concepts of reach, persistence, and dissemination in these two datasets. Design A quantitative bibliometric analysis and qualitative thematic analysis were done between February-June 2019. Data sources In all, 91 articles nominated by editors comprised the first dataset. A companion dataset was created by selecting articles (N = 82) from the same journals. Review methods Articles were assessed for type, focus, discipline, total number of authors, and geographical location of the first author. Scopus was searched to obtain bibliographic information and subsequent second- and third-generation citations for all indexed articles. Results For the articles selected by the editors, 76 were indexed and 43 (56.5%) were cited at least once, resulting in 333 citations in the second and third generations. For the companion articles, 38 (of 78) were cited, with 175 subsequent citations. These findings are congruent with the prior study. Conclusion Articles in nursing journals are being read and cited. The concepts of persistence, reach, and dissemination are supported and their use in bibliometric analysis is warranted. Impact This novel research highlights the global and interdisciplinary impact of a unique set of articles representing nursing and nursing specialty areas. All the articles in the virtual journal and companion dataset were from nursing journals, but dissemination was to other disciplines, primarily medicine. Findings from this replication study continue the effort to document the rigour of content in the nursing literature; support its use to inform policy and practice at all levels; and offer evidence of excellence in content to inform nursing curricula.