Citation analysis and impact factor trends of 5 core journals in occupational medicine,1985-2006

Longitudinal analysis of citation data provides useful historical information on research and publishing trends in our field. A citation-based analysis was performed on 5 core journals published between 1985 and 2006. Detailed historical information on citation rates, cited half-lives, immediacy indices, and impact-factor scores were extracted from the Thomson Scientific Journal Citation Reports via a custom order, and systematically analyzed. Occupational medicine journals have attracted an increasing number of citations in recent years, with this figure rising from just over 5,000 per year in 1985 to almost 17,000 per year by 2006. Impact factors have also increased between 108% and 186% per journal, with an average rise of approximately 158% during the time period examined. Overall, this study suggests that occupational medicine is now attracting increasing attention in the scientific literature, as evidenced by rising citation counts and impact factors