Top 50 articles from Turkey contributing to cardiovascular medicine

OBJECTIVES
To determine and disclose publications from Turkey that have most contributed “genuinely” to cardiovascular medicine in the past 40 years.

STUDY DESIGN
Based on data of Web of Science, 50 publications were identified, originating from Turkey’s institutions and having received the greatest number of citations as of July 2011. Papers having more than a minor share by international authors were not considered.

RESULTS
Thirty-eight primary authors generated 50 medical papers, each receiving ≥37 citations (95% CI 37; 124). The herein cited articles corresponded in quality to the top one-fifth of global papers. Half of the articles were published in 1997-2003. Currently, the estimated number of such papers produced annually in Turkey is only 4-5, which represents only a global share of 1.0 per mille. The best period registered were the years 1995 to 2005, after which a rise is not anticipated to persist. Cardiology generated 29, cardiovascular surgery 19, and pediatric cardiology two articles. These publications originated from only 10 medical faculties, Gülhane Military Academy, three state and two private hospitals.

CONCLUSION
Given its potential, the performance of Turkey’s contribution to cardiovascular medicine has been unsatisfactory. A much larger concerted effort is required to form a milieu that will focus to enhance research having a potential to contribute to medicine.