Background: Citation analysis is an effective way to gauge the impact of an article on the scientific community.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to perform a citation analysis of 24 clinical dermatologic journals from 1970 to 2012, limited to the topic of psoriasis.
Methods: The authors conducted a search of "psoriasis" in the Science Citation Index from 1970 to 2012, including articles that have received 100 or more citations. The top 100 most cited articles were further analyzed for country, institution, and study type.
Results: Fifty of the top 100 most cited articles were from the United States and 81 of them were original articles. The majority of the top 100 classics were from dermatology programs in the United States, but institutions in the United Kingdom and Germany also made notable contributions. Citation classics in psoriasis were highly published from 1985 to 1989 and 2000 to 2004.
Limitations: LIMITATIONS included potential neglect of a clinical dermatologic journal and the limited search term of "psoriasis."
Conclusion: The great majority of citation classics were published in the premier dermatologic journals. The top-ranking dermatology programs in the United States produced the majority of the top 100 classics in psoriasis. The high number of citation classics from 1985 to 1989 correlates to the discovery of the immune-mediated pathogenesis of psoriasis at that time. The 21st century brought forth the monumental development of biologic agents in psoriasis therapy, reflected by the high number of citation classics from 2000 to 2004.