Bibliometrics: Methods for studying academic publishing

Bibliometrics is the study of academic publishing that uses statistics to describe publishing trends and to highlight relationships between published works. Likened to epidemiology, researchers seek to answer questions about a field based on data about publications (e.g., authors, topics, funding) in the same way that an epidemiologist queries patient data to understand the health of a population. In this Eye Opener, the authors introduce bibliometrics and define its key terminology and concepts, including relational and evaluative bibliometrics. Readers are introduced to common bibliometric methods and their related strengths and weaknesses. The authors provide examples of bibliometrics applied in health professions education and propose potential future research directions. Health professions educators are consumers of bibliometric reports and can adopt its methodologies for future studies.

Automated summary

Bibliometrics is a study of academic publishing that uses statistics to describe trends, similar to epidemiology in analyzing data about publications. This article introduces key concepts and methods of bibliometrics, providing examples of its application in health professions education and proposing future research directions. Health professions educators can use bibliometric reports and methodologies in their studies.