“Super-Papers” Make More Impact: A Bibliometric and Altmetric Databases Analysis of MASLD Publications

Aims Traditional evaluation of research impact was based on citation analyses, but the alternative metrics (altmetrics) measure broader societal impact. We aimed to explore the association between academic and societal impact of papers across two Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) fields; lifestyle and burden/policy, and to identify the factors predicting the citation of a paper within policy documents.

We conducted a database analytic study of the 100 top-cited and 100 top-Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) papers dealing with MASLD in relation to lifestyle or to burden/policy fields. The papers were retrieved from the Web of Science platform and Altmetric Explorer database. Policy citation data were complemented from the Overton database. Papers within both 100 top-AAS and 100 top-cited papers lists in each field were defined as “super-papers”.

A moderate correlation was found between citations and AAS in both lifestyle and burden/policy fields (r=0.399, P<0.001 and r=0.455, P<0.001, respectively). A five-unit increase in the journal’s impact factor augmented the probability of a lifestyle paper being a “super-paper” by 10% (95% confidence interval 1.02-1.19). Open access publishing increased the likelihood of a burden/policy paper being a “super-paper” by 3.33-fold (1.26-8.85, P=0.015). “Super-papers” were significantly more likely to be cited within policy documents compared to being either top-cited or top-AAS papers by 2.60 (1.06-6.37 P=0.036) and 4.53-fold (1.68-12.19 P=0.003) respectively in the burden/policy field.

Papers in the field of MASLD that are better disseminated across both academic and societal platforms are associated with higher policy impact. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All data produced are available online at https://zenodo.org/records/16315405 List of abbreviations - AAS - Altmetric Attention Score - AE - Altmetric Explorer - AI - artificial intelligence - CI - confidence interval - CPG - clinical practice guideline - DOI - digital object identifier - IQR - interquartile range - JCR - Journal Citation Report - JIF - Journal Impact Factor - MASH - metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis - MASLD - metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease - NAFLD - non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - NASH - non-alcoholic steatohepatitis - OA - open access - OR - odds ratio - PMC - PubMed Central - PRISMA - Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses - PP - proceeding paper - Q - quartile - rs - Spearman’s correlation coefficient - SD - standard deviation - SR/MA - systematic review/meta-analysis - TLVMC - Tel-Aviv Medical Center - WoS - Web of Science