A Bibliometric Survey of Publications in Vascular Ultrasound

Access to a body of published research is important to the development of research and to inform quality patient care. Measures of such activities are determined by bibliometric analysis of publication databases. This project aims to identify the scope of such publications in vascular ultrasound and its implications for the ultrasound professionals. Major databases were surveyed to identify the range of publications in “vascular ultrasound” from 2016 to 2018. The topics, sources, and relevance of the publications were noted along with recognized impact factors and other parameters. A list of target journals was created in radiology, ultrasound, and clinical vascular spheres. These journals were assessed for bibliometric parameters, total number of articles, and articles specific to vascular ultrasound. Web of Science was used over a 3-year period to identify 4136 articles (1421, 1384, and 1326 in each of 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively). This search returned 414 pages; of these, 2-page analysis revealed 15% were relevant to vascular ultrasound practice. Of the 21 “highly cited” articles, one was related to carotid ultrasound and one was aortic practice guidelines. Of the 31 targeted journals (radiology, 5; ultrasound, 16; vascular surgery, 7; vascular medicine, 3), 3873 articles were published; 123 (3.2%) were relevant to vascular ultrasound. The maximum vascular ultrasound content in any one journal was 8%. The activities were guidelines, 11; cases, 7; and mixed other, 105. The topics were carotid, 30; arterial, 17; aorta, 7; venous, 16; education, 12; and other, 41. The impact factor was 0.36 to 16.8 (median = 2.1). None of the targeted journals nor the major databases have much content in vascular ultrasound. The choice of journal for publication should be determined by potential audience rather than the journal itself. As a tool for an environment scan of trends in vascular ultrasound, no journal serves well.