bibliometric analysis of the journal is a method to assess the research impact or research influence of that journal . this information can also be used to evaluate the influence / performance of a researcher and to provide a comparison between researchers . this work was aimed at performing bibliometric analysis of indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism ( ijem ) . total number of articles published , type of articles , their authorship , and the coverage of various subspecialties was studied . the publications were also classified as indian or foreign , from endocrine or nonendocrine departments and from academic or nonacademic institutions according to the institution of first author . a total of 10 main issues and 7 supplementary issues were published in ijem in year 2011 and 2012 . these included a total of 605 publications , which depict a dramatic increase in the number of publications in last 2 years as compared to the previous years . taking collectively although maximum number of articles were from india , but the publications from other countries are also on an increase . thus , the widespread coverage of this journal suggests that ijem has begun to represent global face of indian endocrinology . particularly excellent scientific work is the cradle of breakthroughs in our knowledge of the world . communication , that is , exchange of research results , is the driving force in science . publications are not the only , but also certainly very important elements in this knowledge exchange process . there are many methods to evaluate scientific research and bibliometric analysis is one of them . bibliometric analysis is defined as organization , classification , and quantitative evaluation of publication pattern of macrocommunication along with their authorships by mathematical and statistical calculations . evaluative bibliometrics seeks to assess the impact of scientific output in the context of other published science and usually compares the relative scientific contributions of research groups or institutions . it can indicate the impact of a paper , a research field , and of a set of researchers . it also helps in accessing the quality of research output of universities and thus helps the policy makers to allocate research funding on the basis of the assessment results . larger units , such as schools , colleges , and universities use bibliometrics as one tool to demonstrate how successful they are at getting published and to assess the impact of their research effort . thus , this type of analysis provides useful indicators of scientific productivity , trends , the emphasis of research in various facets , and researchers preferences for publication . this article aims at performing bibliometric analysis of the indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism ( ijem ) . it has established itself as a leading technical journal in india in the field of endocrinology . it is a bimonthly journal that publishes technical and clinical studies related to health , ethical , and social issues in field of diabetes , endocrinology , and metabolism . ijem issues of last 2 years ( 2011 and 2012 ) available online were taken for analyzing the publication trends in this journal . the data were derived from the web site of the journal , which gives link to the previous issues . the articles published were analyzed for the type of the articles ( editorial , review article , original article , brief communication , case report , letter to the editor , endocrinology around the world , endocrinology , and arts and miscellaneous ) . total number of publications in 2011 - 12 was also compared against publications in 2007 - 10 . the articles were broadly divided into nine major groups consisting of pituitary , thyroid , parathyroid , pancreas and metabolic disorders , gonads , renal , and adrenal endocrinology and general endocrinology . the articles were later categorized as indian or foreign , from academic or nonacademic institutions and from endocrine or nonendocrine departments , depending upon the institution of the first author . in year 2011 - 12 , a total of 10 main issues and 7 supplementary issues were published in ijem . these included a total of 605 publications , comprising of 38 editorials , 165 review articles , 95 original articles , 101 brief communications , 93 case reports , 95 letters to the editor , 4 articles on endocrinology around the world , 3 articles on endocrinology and arts , and 11 miscellaneous articles [ table 1 ] . number of articles published in ijem in years 2011 and 2012 total number of articles published increased from 165 in 2011 to 440 in year 2012 . articles on endocrinology around the world were published in year 2011 , but not in year 2012 . in year 2012 , articles on endocrinology and arts and some miscellaneous articles ( south asian guidelines for management of endocrine disorders in ramadan , orations and abstracts presented at escicon 2012 ) were also included . in both years , review articles formed the major chunk of the publications , followed by brief communications in 2012 and case reports in 2011 . research work was published as original articles , brief communications , case reports , and letters to the editor . the total number of articles in 2011 - 12 was also compared with articles of 2007 - 10 [ table 2 and figure 1 ] . however , newer categories of articles have been included in these years like brief communications , letters to the editor , endocrinology around the world , endocrinology and arts , and some miscellaneous articles . comparing total publications from 2007 to 2012 graphical representation of total publications of ijem from 2007 to 12 statistical analysis of the mean number of articles published in 2007 - 10 and in 2011 - 12 reveals that there is a statistically significant increase ( p = 0.007 ) in the publication number in 2011 - 12 [ table 3 ] . comparing means of publications in 2007 - 10 and 2011 - 12 the articles published in ijem in year 2011 - 12 covered every subspecialty of endocrinology [ table 4 and figure 2 ] . endocrine glands covered in ijem in 2011 - 12 publication trends of all articles in ijem in year 2011 , there were almost similar contributions from endocrine ( 48.48% ) and nonendocrine ( 51.51% ) departments . in 2012 , publications from endocrine departments were much higher in number ( 56.03% vs. 43.96% ) . taking together , endocrine departments contributed more ( 53.97% ) as compared with nonendocrine departments ( 46.02% ) . a considerable fraction of publications was from foreign countries ( 16.88% ) in last 2 years . taking individually , foreign publications were slightly more in 2012 as compared with 2011 ( 17.53% vs. 15.15% ) . from india , almost same number of publications was done by academic ( 52.72% ) and nonacademic ( 47.27% ) institutions , but in 2012 , publications from academic institutes ( 65.83% ) were almost double in number as compared with nonacademic institutes ( 34.16% ) . taking collectively , the contribution from the academic institutes ( 62.25% ) far exceeded the contribution from nonacademic institutions ( 37.74% ) . however , the above three categorizations were based on the basis of institution of first author only . the total number of articles published has increased significantly in last 2 years as compared with the previous 4 years . there is not only increase in the number of articles published , but also certain newer interesting categories of articles have also been introduced . review articles were published in maximum number in ijem , whereas according to bibliometric analysis of endocrinology articles published in journal of the association of physicians of india ( japi ) , original articles were published to the maximum . the major chunk of the articles in ijem is related to pancreas and metabolic disorders . but in volumes 11 - 13 of ijem , the maximum number of articles were relating to metabolic bone diseases and parathyroid . in japi also , maximum number of publications were regarding diabetes mellitus and metabolism , followed by bone disorders . a large fraction of the publications of ijem in year 2011 - 12 have come from foreign countries . this suggests the increasing popularity of the journal in other countries also . from india , endocrine departments have contributed much more to ijem than nonendocrine departments in terms of publications , especially in year 2012 . in relative terms , almost double publications have come from academic institutions as compared with nonacademic institutes in 2012 . the popularity of ijem has increased manifolds in last 2 years , as suggested by increase in the quantity and quality of publications . it is growing at a rapid pace and is inviting wide spread submissions regarding endocrinology - related research . not only are they from every part of the country , but also even other countries contributing immensely to this journal . both endocrine and nonendocrine departments , academic and nonacademic institutions are important contributors to this journal .
background : bibliometric analysis of the journal is a method to assess the research impact or research influence of that journal . 
 this information can also be used to evaluate the influence / performance of a researcher and to provide a comparison between researchers . 
 this work was aimed at performing bibliometric analysis of indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism ( ijem).materials and methods : the publications of year 2011 - 12 of ijem were analyzed . 
 total number of articles published , type of articles , their authorship , and the coverage of various subspecialties was studied . 
 the publications were also classified as indian or foreign , from endocrine or nonendocrine departments and from academic or nonacademic institutions according to the institution of first author.results and conclusions : a total of 10 main issues and 7 supplementary issues were published in ijem in year 2011 and 2012 . 
 these included a total of 605 publications , which depict a dramatic increase in the number of publications in last 2 years as compared to the previous years . 
 taking collectively , review articles were published in majority . 
 maximum number of articles was dealing with pancreas and metabolic disorders followed by thyroid . 
 other endocrine organs were given almost similar importance . 
 publications were largely originating from endocrine departments and from academic institutions . 
 although maximum number of articles were from india , but the publications from other countries are also on an increase . 
 thus , the widespread coverage of this journal suggests that ijem has begun to represent global face of indian endocrinology .