Bibliometric spotlight on thoracic surgery specialization theses in Turkey

Introduction
Scientific publications originating from medical specialty theses are seen as a start to an academic career for clinicians and a criterion to work in academia in Turkey.

Aim
To evaluate thoracic surgery theses in the period 2001–2019 in publication and other bibliometric parameters.

Material and methods
Our study investigated 319 theses prepared in the thoracic surgery field between January 2001 and December 2019 and registered in the National Thesis Center. We identified and recorded the author’s gender, institution, research method, publication status, time, citations, journals’ index, and author’s order using Google Scholar, Web of Science Basic Search, and Master Journal List.

Results
Of the 319 evaluated, 262 theses were from universities, and 57 were in Training and Research Hospitals. Thirty-two studies (10%) were experimental or prospective clinical. The number of published studies (38.5%) in journals was 123 (66 SCI/SCI-E, 8 ESCI, three other international indexes, and 46 national indexes). Sixty (18.8%) authors were women. The mean time to publication was 4.31 ±2.95 years. It was 3.3 years for female researchers (p = 0.029). Experimental/prospective studies in universities were relatively higher. The number of citations in SCI/SCI-E journals was significantly higher (p < 0.001). The time to the publication of experimental/prospective studies was shorter (p = 0.039).

Conclusions
The publication rate of thoracic surgery theses was 38.5%. Female researchers published their studies earlier. Articles in SCI/SCI-E journals had a higher number of citations. The time to publication was significantly shorter in experimental/prospective studies. This study is the first in the literature as a bibliometric report of the thoracic surgery thesis.