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

AimsTraditional 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. MethodsWe 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". ResultsA 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 journals 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. ConclusionPapers in the field of MASLD that are better disseminated across both academic and societal platforms are associated with higher policy impact.