Neurosurgery ranks in top 20 in publishing

UB’s Department of Neurosurgery ranks among the top 20 most productive neurosurgical residency programs in the U.S. in terms of academic publishing over a five-year period, according to a recent article in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

The article by researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and published online June 26 assessed total publications and citations from 2009 through 2013 by the faculty of 103 U.S. neurosurgical residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Academic publishing productivity reflects the quality and quantity of research at a particular institution and contributes to a neurosurgical program’s ability to attract the best residents and faculty.

UB’s Department of Neurosurgery ranked as the 17th most academically productive neurosurgical program — tied with Emory University — with 13 faculty members producing 146 publications and garnering 2,812 citations during the five-year period.

Elad Levy, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, noted that his department’s ranking is especially noteworthy, given the size of some of the competing departments. “We were one of the smallest departments to crack the top 20, making our per-capita publication rate exceptional,” he said.

The top five programs were the University of California, San Francisco; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Pittsburgh, Brigham & Women’s Hospital; and Johns Hopkins University.