title: Evidence-based editing: factors influencing the number of citations in a national journal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Citations received by papers published within a journal serve to increase its bibliometric impact. The objective of this paper was to assess the influence of publication language, article type, number of authors, and year of publication on the citations received by papers published in Gaceta Sanitaria, a Spanish-language journal of public health.
  
  
  METHODS
  The information sources were the journal website and the Web of Knowledge, of the Institute of Scientific Information. The period analyzed was from 2007 to 2010. We included original articles, brief original articles, and reviews published within that period. We extracted manually information regarding the variables analyzed and we also differentiated among total citations and self-citations. We constructed logistic regression models to analyze the probability of a Gaceta Sanitaria paper to be cited or not, taking into account the aforementioned independent variables. We also analyzed the probability of receiving citations from non-Spanish authors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred forty papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The included papers received a total of 287 citations, which became 202 when excluding self-citations. The only variable influencing the probability of being cited was the publication year. After excluding never cited papers, time since publication and review papers had the highest probabilities of being cited. Papers in English and review articles had a higher probability of citation from non-Spanish authors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Publication language has no influence on the citations received by a national, non-English journal. Reviews in English have the highest probability of citation from abroad. Editors should decide how to manage this information when deciding policies to raise the bibliometric impact factor of their journals.
authors: Area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. alberto.ruano@usc.es
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Ruano-Ravina
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Alvarez-Dardet
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D035081:Editorial Policies; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D011634:Public Health; D013030:Spain