Scientific publications in anesthesiology journals from East Asia: a 10-year survey of the literature

The scientific publications in anesthesiology research from East Asian authors have not been reported yet. The present study was designed to analyze the contribution of articles from East Asia to anesthesiology research. Articles published in 17 journals in anesthesiology originating from Japan, China, and South Korea from 2000 to 2009 were retrieved from the PubMed database and Web of Science. From 2000 to 2009, there were 3,076 articles published from East Asia. During this period, there were a notable decrease in publications from Japan and modest increases in publications from both China and South Korea. The average 5-year impact factor of the published articles was similar among the three regions, and China had the highest average number of citations to each article. Anesthesia & Analgesia published more articles than any other journal from all three regions. Our analysis showed that Japan was the most productive region in East Asia, but there was a notable decrease in publications from Japan in 2000–2009. The impact factor of the articles suggests similar levels of scholarship. Anesthesia & Analgesia was the most popular journal in East Asia.