Citation analysis of the dry eye literature

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the literature associated with the dry eye field.

Methods: An advanced search using Thomson Reuters Web of Science's Science Citation Index yielded 7,225 unique articles related to dry eye disease. All results underwent visual inspection to ensure that the final list included only literature associated with dry eye in some way. The most frequently cited articles were characterized by number of citations, author, institution, country of origin, year of publication, and source title.

Results: The h-index (Hirsch index) of literature associated with dry eye was 100. The two most frequent topics among the top 25 cited articles were lacrimal gland structure and physiology and treatment methods for ocular surface disease. The top-cited author, institution, country, and source title were Kazuo Tsubota, Harvard University, the United States, and Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, respectively. The most highly cited article associated with the dry eye field (n=1, 180) was "Preliminary criteria for the classification of Sjogrens syndrome - Results of a prospective concerted action supported by the European Community," authored in 1993 by C. Vitali.

Conclusions: This analysis reviewed the citation frequency of the top-cited articles related to dry eye disease. This information aids understanding of the history and development of dry eye research, in addition to the impact and characteristics of the contributors to the field.