title: Bibliometric analysis of the top 50 cited respiratory articles.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Citation classics have been published in almost all medical fields. The main objective of this study was to provide the readers with a complete updated guide using two different citation tracking sources in assessing respiratory literature published in respiratory specific or general medical journals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Scopus Library database ( www.scopus.com ) was used to determine the 50 most cited articles regarding respiratory medicine using the subject category "respiratory system." The results from the database were sorted using the option "Times cited."
  
  
  RESULTS
  The top 50 articles were published during the time period 1987-2008, with most articles (n = 22) published from 1996 to 2000.The topic that had the highest number of articles (n = 15) was chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD) followed by asthma (n = 10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A periodic evaluation of the top cited articles can help researchers identify the quality of work in respiratory system and pinpoint subtopics which have not been given due consideration.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences , Karachi , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Haseeb Munaf
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Seriwala
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences , Karachi , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Shahzeb
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: b Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences , Emory University Hospital , Atlanta , GA , USA.
authors.forename: Waqas
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shuaib
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences , Karachi , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Syed Raza
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shah
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D016208:Databases, Factual; D011643:Publishing; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine
keywords: Bibliometric; citation classic; citations; respiratory