Age and Ageing journal announces 5 most highly cited articles and change to Impact Factor

The top 5 most highly cited articles in Age and Age and the journal's latest Impact Factor scores have been announced with Prevalence of frailty in 62 countries across the world: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-level studies becoming the most cited paper as of July 2023. While the journal remains in the top quartile of the 'Geriatrics and Gerontology' category, its impact factor has dropped on previous years to a score of 6.7. The 5-year impact factor is 9.0. The journal ranks 10th out of 54 titles and is only 1.2 points behind the leading journal in its field.  

It was a great accolade to take the top slot last year but, as expected, the hugely cited article Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis has now moved out of the Impact Factor window. This paper attracted an unprecedented 5,669 citations, which is 1,855 times more than average. The paper has also been featured in 35 news stories via 25 outlets, including CNN and Runner's World, since its publication in 2018. It is also worth noting that Impact Factor calculation has undergone a recalibration this year and all journals are receiving significantly lower scores than the previous year. The highest score in our category is now 7.9, compared to Age and Ageing’s top ranking of 12.8 last year

The current Impact Factor reporting is 2019-2021, which includes the critically important COVID-19 research period and contributed to this reported score. The second most cited paper, COVID-19 in older people: a rapid clinical review was published on 6 May 2020 and is a prime example of the tremendous pandemic effort by Age and Age's community. This paper is in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetrics, is cited journals in 12 different scientific journal categories  (including 'Law and Legal Studies, 'Built Environment and Design' and 'Philosophy and Religious Studies'), is referenced in this World Health Organization Plan and an investigative news article looking at COVID-19 media coverage and older people. It has also been cited in a number of key scientific papers including The COVID-19 rehabilitation pandemicEvolution and effects of COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes and A Framework for Rationing Ventilators and Critical Care Beds During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Our top cited paper is Prevalence of frailty in 62 countries across the world: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-level studies, published in October 2020.  This paper has been cited 234 times and is in In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetrics with 48 news stories via 45 outlets including KLTV, Texas News. It has also been cited by key scientific papers including Physical Frailty: ICFSR International Clinical Practice Guidelines for Identification and Management, Frailty: implications for clinical practice and public healthGlobal Incidence of Frailty and Prefrailty Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults and Burden of disease, disability-adjusted life years and frailty prevalence. In addition, this paper has attracted 85 tweets from 75 individuals that were sent to over 207k followers on Twitter.

Read our top 5 most highly cited articles:

  1. Prevalence of frailty in 62 countries across the world: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-level studies
  2. COVID-19 in older people: a rapid clinical review
  3. Age and frailty are independently associated with increased COVID-19 mortality and increased care needs in survivors: results of an international multi-centre study
  4. Diagnostic accuracy of the 4AT for delirium detection in older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis
  5. Association of frailty with mortality in older inpatients with Covid-19: a cohort study

View Ageing and Ageing online here.