Five major challenges for medical bibliometrics

Bibliometrics, in terms of counting articles and books, has always existed. Since 1955, however, additional parameters such as article citations, impact factors and h-indexes have accompanied science - not least medical science. Today, bibliometrics is big business where private companies sell all kinds of bibliometric data. To handle these, it is essential to become aware of the limitations and pitfalls in bibliometrics. Accordingly, the present review describes five major challenges under the headings: Quality; Impact; Co-authorship; Databases, and Fraud.