Scientific Publications in Dentistry in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia Between 1996 and 2018: A Bibliometric Analysis.

This study aimed to determine the number and quality of scientific publications in dentistry from the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia between 1996 and 2018 using bibliometric analysis. Web of Science and Scopus were searched to identify scientific publications in dentistry between 1996 and 2018 by authors from centers in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The annual number of scientific publications, citation rate, and h-index for each publication, and trends in international co-authorship were investigated by country and institution. There were 651 scientific publications in dentistry between 1996 and 2018, by authors from Lithuania (280 publications), Latvia (210 publications), and Estonia (161 publications). Publications from Estonia were ranked highest in qualitative terms (citation rate and h-index), followed by Lithuania, and Latvia. Of 28 authors with at least ten publications, 54% were Lithuanian (15 authors), 25% were Estonian (7 authors), and 21% were Latvian (6 authors). Estonian authors collaborated mainly with Finland (27 publications), Latvian authors with the USA (16 publications), and Lithuanian authors with Canada (26 publications). Most publications came from the academic institutions of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (136 publications), the University of Tartu (109 publications), Vilnius University (101 publications), and Riga Stradins University (28 publications). During the past 22 years, authors from Lithuania had the most publications in the field of dentistry, and authors from Estonia had the most cited publications. Authors mainly published in native journals and collaborated with authors in Scandinavia and North America.

H-classic: a new method to identify classic articles in Implant Dentistry, Periodontics, and Oral Surgery.

INTRODUCTION: The study of classic papers permits analysis of the past, present, and future of a specific area of knowledge. This type of analysis is becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. Our objective was to use the H-classics method, based on the h-index, to analyze classic papers in Implant Dentistry, Periodontics, and Oral Surgery (ID, P, and OS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: First, an electronic search of documents related to ID, P, and OS was conducted in journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR) 2014 within the category 'Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine'. Second, Web of Knowledge databases were searched using Mesh terms related to ID, P, and OS. Finally, the H-classics method was applied to select the classic articles in these disciplines, collecting data on associated research areas, document type, country, institutions, and authors. RESULTS: Of 267,611 documents related to ID, P, and OS retrieved from JCR journals (2014), 248 were selected as H-classics. They were published in 35 journals between 1953 and 2009, most frequently in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology (18.95%), the Journal of Periodontology (18.54%), International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants (9.27%), and Clinical Oral Implant Research (6.04%). These classic articles derived from the USA in 49.59% of cases and from Europe in 47.58%, while the most frequent host institution was the University of Gothenburg (17.74%) and the most frequent authors were J. Lindhe (10.48%) and S. Socransky (8.06%). CONCLUSION: The H-classics approach offers an objective method to identify core knowledge in clinical disciplines such as ID, P, and OS.