The 100 most-cited articles in the imaging literature

Purpose: To characterize the 100 most-cited articles in medical imaging.

Materials and methods: The Scopus database was searched for citations to articles published in any of the 116 journals in the subject category "radiology, nuclear medicine, and medical imaging" at the Institute of Science Information Web of Science that the authors termed "imaging literature." Using the Scopus database, two authors searched electronic and print versions of these journals to determine the 100 most-cited articles. The following data were collected for each article: journal name, journal impact factor, number of authors, publication year, country in which the study was performed, department of all authors, article type, imaging modality, grant funding, and clinical subspecialty. Statistical and/or mathematic, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique, image processing and/or analysis and computer science, new imaging technique, and basic science articles were considered "preclinical." Using the Pearson correlation coefficient, the authors examined the relationship between journal impact factor and the number of top 100 cited articles included in the list.

Results: Most studies were classified as preclinical (n = 75). Fifty-eight of the 100 articles were neuroradiology articles. NeuroImage had the most highly cited articles (n = 22). MR imaging was the most commonly studied imaging modality (n = 69). The authors of 51 articles were from radiology departments. Most articles were published from 1990 to the present (n = 87). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between journal impact factor and the number of top 100 cited articles (r = 0.46, P < .001).

Conclusion: Preclinical articles, primarily in the field of neurologic MR imaging, were highly represented in the top 100 cited articles in the medical imaging literature.