Table 1 Characteristics of all 36 articles in chlorinated water network

N publications

n citations (%) realized

n citations (%) not realized

Total

36

191 (34%)

379 (66%)

Article characteristics, study outcome

Category

N publications

n citations (%) realized

n citations (%) not realized

 Authors’ conclusion

Positive

16

115 (42%)

161 (58%)

Negative

10

47 (32%)

102 (68%)

Mixed

5

17 (27%)

47 (73%)

 Data-based conclusion

Positive

6

44 (48%)

48 (52%)

Negative

16

116 (40%)

172 (60%)

Mixed

0

0

0

Article characteristics, other content-related

Category

N publications

n citations (%) realized

n citations (%) not realized

 Article type/study design

Narrative

14

31 (16%)

159 (84%)

 narrative review

11

18 (13%)

121 (87%)

 commentary

3

13 (26%)

38 (74%)

Empirical

22

160 (42%)

220 (58%)

 cohort

3

10 (37%)

17 (63%)

 cross-sectional

13

91 (44%)

114 (56%)

 pre-experimental

2

16 (31%)

36 (69%)

 multiple designs

1

26 (76%)

8 (24%)

 ecological

1

9 (32%)

19 (68%)

 meta-analysis

1

8 (36%)

14 (64%)

 case study

1

0 (0%)

12 (100%)

 Sample size (cat)

Low (1 – 199)

6

17 (20%)

69 (80%)

Medium (200 – 1999)

8

68 (46%)

79 (54%)

High ( ≥ 2000)

8

75 (51%)

72 (49%)

 Study quality (cross-sectional)

Good

0

–

–

.

Fair

9

66 (46%)

77 (54%)

Poor

4

25 (40%)

37 (60%)

 Specificity

1 (non-specific)

5

0 (0%)

36 (100%)

2

7

44 (31%)

96 (69%)

3

9

46 (33%)

92 (67%)

4

11

59 (38%)

96 (62%)

5 (specific)

4

42 (42%)

59 (58%)

Article characteristics, not content-related

Category

N publications

n citations (%) realized

n citations (%) not realized

 Language

English

33

191 (35%)

353 (65%)

Other

3

0 (0%)

26 (100%)

 Conclusive title

Not conclusive

25

124 (31%)

272 (69%)

Conclusive

11

67 (39%)

107 (61%)

 Funding source

Non-profit

15

111 (41%)

162 (59%)

For-profit

1

8 (36%)

14 (64%)

Both

5

42 (52%)

39 (48%)

Not reported

15

30 (15%)

164 (85%)

 Number of authors

1 – 2

10

24 (18%)

106 (82%)

3 – 4

11

51 (31%)

114 (71%)

5 – 6

7

40 (49%)

41 (51%)

≥ 7

8

76 (39%)

118 (61%)

 Number of affiliations

1

15

54 (25%)

161 (75%)

2

10

48 (36%)

87 (74%)

≥ 3

11

89 (40%)

131 (60%)

 Number of references

< 25

10

18 (14%)

113 (86%)

25 – 40

15

108 (40%)

165 (60%)

≥ 40

11

65 (39%)

101 (61%)

 Journal impact factor (cat)

0 – 2

10

59 (34%)

116 (66%)

2 – 4

13

33 (22%)

117 (78%)

≥ 4

12

99 (44%)

125 (56%)

Author characteristics

Category

N publications

n citations (%) realized

n citations (%) not realized

 Gender

Male

24

148 (35%)

269 (65%)

Female

12

43 (28%)

110 (72%)

 Country

Belgium

12

112 (44%)

143 (56%)

Other North West Europe

8

22 (24%)

71 (76%)

UK

3

7 (14%)

44 (86%)

Germany

2

11 (44%)

14 (56%)

Netherlands

1

4 (57%)

3 (43%)

Norway

1

0 (0%)

10 (100%)

Sweden

1

0

0

South Europe

12

32 (23%)

105 (77%)

Italy

5

15 (19%)

65 (81%)

Spain

4

17 (43%)

23 (58%)

France

2

0 (0%)

5 (100%)

Croatia

1

0 (0%)

12 (100%)

North America

4

25 (29%)

60 (71%)

USA

3

17 (30%)

39 (70%)

Canada

1

8 (28%)

21 (72%)

 Type of affiliation

University

27

154 (34%)

303 (66%)

Government

2

8 (25%)

24 (75%)

Industry

1

1 (8%)

11 (92%)

Other

6

28 (41%)

41 (59%)

 Citation characteristics

category

n citations (%) realized

n citations (%) not realized

 Time to citation (in years)

0 – <1

26 (29%)

63 (71%)

1 – <2

42 (40%)

64 (60%)

2 – <3

30 (37%)

52 (63%)

3 – <4

23 (29%)

55 (71%)

4 – <5

24 (39%)

38 (61%)

5 – <6

16 (35%)

30 (65%)

6 – <7

12 (29%)

30 (71%)

7 – <8

7 (26%)

20 (74%)

≥ 8

11 (29%)

27 (71%)

 Authority

0 – 5

41 (23%)

134 (77%)

6 – 50

105 (37%)

177 (63%)

≥ 51

45 (40%)

68 (60%)

 Self-citation

No

137 (28%)

349 (72%)

Yes

54 (64%)

30 (36%)