Citations Do Not Equal Clicks: A Bibliometric–Altmetric Analysis of Web of Science Essential Science Indicators’ Highly Cited Dermatology Papers

Abstract

Citation counts and Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS) capture different dimensions of research impact, but their relationship among dermatology’s most influential papers is unclear.Web of Science Essential Science Indicators (ESI) Highly Cited dermatology papers (2016–2026; n=347) were linked to Altmetric Explorer records by digital object identifier. Of 347 papers, 323 (93%) had a tracked AAS (median 40, interquartile range [IQR] 16–123) against a median of 262 citations (IQR 136–362). Citations correlated only moderately with AAS (Spearman’s ρ=0.39) but strongly with Mendeley readership (ρ=0.82). Primary research articles attracted higher AAS than reviews (median 54 vs 29, p=0.002) despite similar citation counts (p=0.74). Mechanistic wound-healing and epidemiological reviews dominated citations but had negligible public attention, while pathogen-outbreak and drug-safety reports showed the reverse pattern. Conclusion: Among dermatology’s most-cited literature, scholarly and public impact diverge substantially; topical newsworthiness, rather than citation strength, drives social attention.