title: A Comparison of Research Productivity Across Plastic Surgery Fellowship Directors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Objective measures of research productivity depend on how frequently a publication is cited. Metrics such as the Hirsch index (h-index; total number of publications h that have at least h citations) allow for an objective measurement of the scientific impact of an author's publications.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the h-index among aesthetic plastic surgery fellowship directors to that of fellowship directors in craniofacial surgery and microsurgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study of all fellowship directors in aesthetic surgery, craniofacial surgery, and microsurgery in the United States and Canada. The gathered data were categorized as bibliometric (h-index, i10-index, total number of publications, total number of citations, maximum citations for a single work, and number of self-citations) and demographic (gender, training background). Descriptive statistics were computed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample was composed of 30 aesthetic surgeons (93% male), 33 craniofacial surgeons (97% male), and 32 microsurgeons (94% male). The mean h-index was 13.7 for aesthetics, 16.9 for craniofacial, and 12.4 for microsurgery. There were no significant differences for any of the bibliometric measures between the three subspecialties, despite the fact that academic rank and years in practice were significantly different.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As measured by the h-index, there is a high level of academic productivity among fellowship directors, regardless of subspecialty area. Unlike other plastic surgery subspecialties however, the h-index of aesthetic plastic surgeons is not correlated to academic rank, revealing a discrepancy between perceptions of aesthetic plastic surgery and its actual academic impact.
authors.affiliation: Drs Chopra, Swanson, and Susarla are Residents, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Ms Chang is a Medical Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr Stevens is a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Dr Singh is Chief of Plastic Surgery, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Karan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.affiliation: Drs Chopra, Swanson, and Susarla are Residents, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Ms Chang is a Medical Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr Stevens is a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Dr Singh is Chief of Plastic Surgery, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Edward W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.affiliation: Drs Chopra, Swanson, and Susarla are Residents, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Ms Chang is a Medical Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr Stevens is a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Dr Singh is Chief of Plastic Surgery, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Srinivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Susarla
authors.affiliation: Drs Chopra, Swanson, and Susarla are Residents, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Ms Chang is a Medical Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr Stevens is a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Dr Singh is Chief of Plastic Surgery, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Drs Chopra, Swanson, and Susarla are Residents, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Ms Chang is a Medical Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr Stevens is a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Dr Singh is Chief of Plastic Surgery, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: W Grant
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: Drs Chopra, Swanson, and Susarla are Residents, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Ms Chang is a Medical Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr Stevens is a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. Dr Singh is Chief of Plastic Surgery, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Devinder P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D002170:Canada; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004526:Efficiency; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011642:Publications / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D066231:Surgeons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States