Bibliometrics Review of the Korean Journal of Urology from 1960 to 2008: Trends and Future Directions

Abstract

Purpose: To identify chronologic trends and characteristics, and to gain some insights into the future direction of the Korean Journal of Urology (KJU), all articles published in the KJU over the past 5 decades were analyzed. Materials and Methods: The bibliometric data of the entire 6,730 articles published in the KJU were classified according to publication type (original articles, review articles, case reports), publication content (experimental articles, clinical articles), and 8 genitourinary fields: oncology, voiding dysfunction/female urology, endourology/urolithiasis, urinary tract infection (UTI), sexual dysfunction/infertility, pediatric urology, trauma, and medical/miscellaneous. The data were analyzed in the following chronological order: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Results: The number of articles published in the KJU has continuously increased annually. The proportion of original articles, which constituted 72.9% of articles overall, significantly increased in the 2000s (79.5%). Articles in the field of oncology constituted the largest proportion (37.6%) of total articles. The oncology and voiding dysfunction/female urology fields showed an increasing trend, but the UTI field showed a decreasing trend. The fields of sexual dysfunction/infertility and voiding dysfunction/ female urology began to increase in the 1990s. The percentage of experimental articles, which was 8.4% in the 1970s, and 9.0% in the 1980s, increased to 20.4% in the 1990s. Recently, the KJU was registered in some international journal databases in recognition of its scientific excellence. Conclusions: These results make up an index reflecting academic and practicing performances in urology. We hope that the KJU will soon be recognized as one of the high-quality international peer-reviewed journals.