The top 100 cited articles in urology

Background: We identified and analyzed the characteristics of the 100 most frequently cited articles published between 1965 and 2007 in journals pertaining to urology and related fields. Methods: We selected 69 of the highest impact urology and sub-specialty journals and 22 of the highest impact general medical and medical research journals from the 2006 edition of journal Citation Reports: Science edition. We identified the 100 most frequently cited urological articles published in these 91 journals using the Science Citation Index Expanded (1965-present). We reviewed and analyzed the articles. Results: The top 100 articles were cited a mean of 629 times (range 418-1435) and published between 1965 and 2003, with 89% published after 1979 and 54% published in the 1990s. Fifteen journals were represented, led by The New England Journal of Medicine (30), The Journal of Urology (22) and Lancet (11). Ninety publications originated from North America (81) or the United Kingdom (9). Johns Hopkins University (13), Harvard University (5), Stanford University (5) and University of California, Los Angeles (5) published the most articles. Five urologists were first authors of 2 or more of the articles. Fifty-six articles reported observational studies. Oncology (51) and transplantation (20) were the most commonly represented urological subfields. Conclusion: These top-cited articles in urology identify topics and authors that contributed to major advances in urology. Observational studies and randomized controlled trials in oncology published in high-impact urological or medical journals constitute the most common type of highly cited publications.