Highly cited German research contributions to the fields of radiation oncology, biology, and physics: focus on collaboration and diversity.
OBJECTIVE
Tight budgets and increasing competition for research funding pose challenges for highly specialized medical disciplines such as radiation oncology. Therefore, a systematic review was performed of successfully completed research that had a high impact on clinical practice. These data might be helpful when preparing new projects.


METHODS
Different measures of impact, visibility, and quality of published research are available, each with its own pros and cons. For this study, the article citation rate was chosen (minimum 15 citations per year on average). Highly cited German contributions to the fields of radiation oncology, biology, and physics (published between 1990 and 2010) were identified from the Scopus database.


RESULTS
Between 1990 and 2010, 106 articles published in 44 scientific journals met the citation requirement. The median average of yearly citations was 21 (maximum 167, minimum 15). All articles with ≥ 40 citations per year were published between 2003 and 2009, consistent with the assumption that the citation rate gradually increases for up to 2 years after publication. Most citations per year were recorded for meta-analyses and randomized phase III trials, which typically were performed by collaborative groups.


CONCLUSIONS
A large variety of clinical radiotherapy, biology, and physics topics achieved high numbers of citations. However, areas such as quality of life and side effects, palliative radiotherapy, and radiotherapy for nonmalignant disorders were underrepresented. Efforts to increase their visibility might be warranted.
Department of Oncology and Palliative Medicine, Nordland Hospital, 8092 Bodø, Norway. carsten.nieder@nlsh.no
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D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005858:Germany; D006283:Health Physics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058025:Interdisciplinary Studies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011853:Radiobiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*