A bibliometric analysis of top 50-most cited articles on repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treatment of depression

Abstract Background Citation count can be used as a key tool to assess the quality of the published literature and because of its immense advantages it is now widely used in ranking the articles on specific topics. Objective/hypothesis To extract and assess the top cited work on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for depression treatment. Methods Scopus Library Database was searched and two independent authors produced a list of 50 most cited articles on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treatment of depression. All the relevant articles having key-terms within their titles, abstract and keywords were included in our search. Our list was categorized into two categories, “mixed” and “focused”. Results The articles in the produced list of top 50 most cited articles on rTMS for treatment of depression belong to the time period 1993–2012 with total citation count 12078. George MS was prominent in the list. ‘Biological Psychiatry’ published most number of articles (n = 13) among the list. Articles were categorized on the basis of primary population and intervention into ‘Focused’ and ‘Mixed’ categories. Limitations Articles that were published before 1993 and after 2012 on rTMS for depression couldn't made it to the final list of top-50 most cited article. Conclusion We attempted to conduct a topic-specific citation analysis considering the paucity of specified bibliometrics in medical literature. Our research provides an insight on emerging trends in rTMS for depression and highlights the characteristics, quality and dynamics of frequently cited articles in the field.