Der Chirurg; Zeitschrift für alle Gebiete der operativen Medizen
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Comparative Study
[German general and visceral surgery: positioning within the international scientific community].
Assessment of scientific performance is critical for selection committees and research funding. The present work evaluated the standing of German surgical research within the international community. ⋯ On the basis of scientific parameters German surgical research can compete with leading international centers in certain fields, but should aim to increase the overall impact of research by publishing more in journals with above average impact factors.
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Comparative Study
[Citation characteristics of German authors in "Der Chirurg": hegemony of the impact factor].
Characteristics of citation and language in publications of German authors from the journal "Der Chirurg" (vol 78, 2007) were analysed. Out of a total of 3,342 citations, 756 (22.62%) were from German authors with 248 (32.8) self-citations. ⋯ The imbalance between the number of surgeons in the US and United Kingdom (66,032) and surgeons in the German speaking countries in Europe (25,300) is compared with respect to the counting methods used to create the impact factor of a journal. The creation of an independent impact factor in Europe and the development of an EU-based citation data bank which allows unselected access to national language scientific literature are strongly needed.
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The structural organization of research facilities within a surgical university center should aim at strengthening the department's research output and likewise provide opportunities for the scientific education of academic surgeons. We suggest a model in which several independent research groups within a surgical department engage in research projects covering various aspects of surgically relevant basic, translational or clinical research. ⋯ Importantly, a focus needs to be placed on obtaining evidence-based data to judge the efficacy of novel diagnostic and treatment concepts. Integration of modern technologies from the fields of physics, computer science and molecular medicine into surgical research necessitates cooperation with external research facilities, which can be strengthened by coordinated support programs offered by research funding institutions.
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Surgical research in Germany occupies a lower position in international ranking than expected. According to the size of the population, the economic impact, the gross domestic product and the research funding capacity, the impact of German surgical research should be much higher. ⋯ If the situation is to be improved all factors have to be evaluated and, if possible, changed. Overall, German surgeons are underrepresented as readers and authors in the scientific market, which is mostly in the English language.
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During the last two decades research in surgery has changed from a specific to an interdisciplinary approach. Accordingly, the research approaches in surgery show marked overlap with those of other disciplines, such as oncology, immunology, gastroenterology, cardiology and intensive care medicine. This questions the need of experimental surgery in the future. ⋯ In addition experimental surgery coins the analytical thinking of young surgeons and mediates the enthusiasm and motivation to search for the undiscovered in surgery. Therefore, there is need to further support experimental surgery as an essential component of academic surgery. Thus, it can be concluded that experimental research still represents a prerequisite for innovations in operative medicine and also contributes to the improvement of scientific performance in surgery.