Global Dental Research Productivity and Its Association With Human Development, Gross National Income, and Political Stability

Factors associated with scientific production citations in dentistry: Zero-inflated negative binomial regression and hurdle modelling

Background: The global scientific literature in dentistry has shown important advances in the field, with major contributions ranging from the analysis of the basic epidemiological aspects of prevention to specialised results in the field of dental treatments. The present investigation aimed to analyse the current state of the scientific literature on dentistry hosted in the Web of Science database. Methods: The methodology included two phases in the analysis of articles and indexed reviews in all thematic areas. During the first phase, the following variables were analysed: scientific production by the publisher, the evolution of scientific output published by publishers, the factors associated with the impact of scientific production, and the modelling of the impact of scientific production on dentistry. During the second phase, associations, evolutions, and trends in the use of keywords in the scientific literature in dentistry were analysed. Results: The first phase shows that scientific production in dentistry will increase between 2010 and 2021, reaching 12,126 articles in 2021. Publishers such as Wiley and Elsevier stand out, but Quintessence Publishing has the most citations. Factors such as pages, authors, and references influence the number of citations. Phase 2 analyzes trends in the dental literature using the WoS database. Topics such as "dental education", "pediatric dentistry", and "pandemic" stand out. The intersection of technology and dentistry and the importance of evidence-based education are highlighted. Conclusions: In conclusion, the study shows that the most studied topics include the association of dental education and the curriculum, the association of pediatric dentistry with oral health, and dental care. The findings show that more recently emphasised topics also stand out, such as evidence-based dentistry, the COVID-19 pandemic, infection control, and endodontics, as well as the need for future research to expand current knowledge based on emerging topics in the scientific literature on dentistry.

[A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Paper Productivity of Japanese Pharmacy Schools]

Since the early 2000s, Japan has been frequently noted as being the only country among about 20 major countries where the publication of academic papers has stagnated. During this period, there have been major changes especially with regards to the Japanese pharmacy schools, such as the shift to a six-year schooling system and the rapid increase in the number of private pharmacy schools. However, few studies have focused on academic productivity specifically among pharmacy schools. Therefore, this study analyzed the outputs associated with the publication of peer-reviewed scholarly articles in Scopus search engine per faculty member in pharmacy schools nationwide in 2020. Professors, associate professors, and lecturers were considered as faculty members. The average number of papers published per the faculty member was 3.13 for national and public universities and 1.15 for private universities, with a significant difference between these universities. Dividing the pharmacy schools of private universities into schools established in and after 2003 and schools established before that, the production coefficient of the former was 0.98 and that of the latter was 1.33. Newly established pharmacy schools were thus found to be slightly less productive in terms of published papers than traditional schools. The paper productivity of private university pharmacy schools is stagnant; the increase in the number of private schools that have adopted a six-year schooling system has contributed to large extent to the creation of clinically competent pharmacists, but it has also brought to light concerns related to the decline in basic research capabilities of Japanese pharmaceutical academia.

Gender differences in dentistry and oral sciences research productivity by researchers in Nigeria

Background

The aim of the study was to assess gender differences in the productivity, impact, collaboration pattern and author position of dentistry and oral sciences researchers in Nigeria.

Methods

We examined the Web of Science (WoS) publication records of dentistry and oral sciences researchers to assess gender differences in productivity, impact, collaboration and authorship pattern (first authorship, last authorship and corresponding author). The analysis included the number of publications in journals ranked based on their quartile rating amongst the journals in the subject area (Q1-Q4). Chi square was used to make gender comparisons. Significance was set at >5%.

Results

413 unique authors published 1,222 articles on dentistry and oral sciences between 2012 and 2021. The number of WoS documents per female author was significantly higher than that per male author (3.7 vs. 2.6, p = 0.03). A non-significantly higher percentage of females authored papers in Q2 and Q3 journals and a higher percentage of males authored papers in Q4 journals. The number of citations per female author (25.0 vs. 14.9, p = 0.04) and the percentage of females listed as first authors (26.6% vs. 20.5%, p = 0.048) were statistically greater than men. The percentage of males listed as last authors was statistically greater than females (23.6% vs. 17.7%, p = 0.04). The correlation between the percentage of papers with researchers listed as first authors and that listed as last authors was not significant for males (p = 0.06) but was significant for females (p = 0.002). A non-significantly greater percentage of females were listed as corresponding authors (26.4% vs. 20.6%) and males were listed as international (27.4% vs. 25.1%) and domestic collaborators (46.8% vs. 44.7%). Also, there was no statistically significant gender difference in the proportion of articles published in open access journals (52.5% vs. 52.0%).

Conclusion

Though there were significant gender differences in the productivity, impact, and collaboration profile of dentistry and oral sciences researchers in Nigeria, the higher female research productivity and impact may be driven by cultural gender nuances that needs to be explored further.

Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity

Sampling biases in the fossil record distort estimates of past biodiversity. However, these biases not only reflect the geological and spatial aspects of the fossil record, but also the historical and current collation of fossil data. We demonstrate how the legacy of colonialism and socioeconomic factors, such as wealth, education and political stability, impact the global distribution of fossil data over the past 30 years. We find that a global power imbalance persists in palaeontology, with researchers in high- or upper-middle-income countries holding a monopoly over palaeontological knowledge production by contributing to 97% of fossil data. As a result, some countries or regions tend to be better sampled than others, ultimately leading to heterogeneous spatial sampling across the globe. This illustrates how efforts to mitigate sampling biases to obtain a truly representative view of past biodiversity are not disconnected from the aim of diversifying and decolonizing our discipline.

Relationship between European postgraduate programme accreditation and national research output: The case of the Network of Erasmus-Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programmes (NEBEOP) in orthodontics. A bibliometric study

AIMS

To assess in each European country the correlation between the number of Network of Erasmus-Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programmes (NEBEOP) members and orthodontic research activity. Secondary objectives were to describe and quantify Europe's orthodontic research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Articles published between 2014 and 2018 in 4 major orthodontic journals (American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, European Journal of Orthodontics, The Angle Orthodontist, Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research) and oral presentation abstracts of five European Orthodontic Society (EOS) congresses were analysed. For each European country, the total number of orthodontic programmes and NEBEOP memberships were collected. Descriptive statistics were performed, and Spearman correlation coefficients and risk ratios were calculated.

RESULTS

2039 articles and 261 oral presentation abstracts were included. Correlation coefficients between national number of publications, oral presentations, sum of these, all adjusted for population, and number of NEBEOP members in each country were 0.64, 0.65 and 0.62, respectively. Risk ratios were all above 1 and statistically significant for number of NEBEOP memberships per country, indicating positive associations with national orthodontic research productivity. Europe accounted for 30.5% of publications and 68.6% of oral presentations at EOS congresses during this period. European orthodontic research was not evenly distributed, since 9 countries were responsible for around 80% of the output.

CONCLUSIONS

A positive association was found between number of NEBEOP programmes and national research activity. These results could be an additional argument to support similar pan-European initiatives and guidelines for postgraduate education, not only in orthodontics but in all other dental specialties.

Brazilian dentistry research productivity

Aim: To explore socioeconomic, educational and research factors associated with dental research productivity at the state level in Brazil. Methods: The authors used the Scopus database to identify dental articles published from 2006 to 2016 associated with Brazilian universities at the state level. Several social, economic, educational and research structure variables were obtained from the census and National Research Council to predict the rate of articles per 100 thousand inhabitants among the 27 Brazilian states. Rates were fitted in linear weighted least-squared regression with stepwise technique. Twenty-two variables were grouped in six blocks (social, economic, general education, dental education, research workforce and structure). Results: A total of 21189 articles were published, and the state of São Paulo accounted for 46%, followed by Rio Grande do Sul with 9.4%; four states did not publish any articles. There were an average (± standard deviation) of 2.6 (±1.98) published articles per 100 researchers and 13.4 (±9.6) articles per 100 thousand inhabitants. Research structure and workforce explained 92.4% and 87.2% of state variability, respectively, while the final model explained 94.5%. One extra PhD and one extra undergraduate researcher per 100 thousand inhabitants were associated with 11.3 more and 3.5 fewer articles, respectively, while every 10 points (range 0-100) on the Human Development Index (Education Component) was associated with 3.3 more articles. Conclusion: State scientific output has several associated factors, but research workforce and general education variables seem to be good predictors. Large disparities among state research outputs have been described and must be addressed by research and development policies.

Clinical research in Dermatology: resources and activities associated with a higher scientific productivity

BACKGROUND

Clinical research papers and their derived metrics can be useful to assess the scientific production of medical and research centers. Diverse factors are probably associated to differences in scientific production. But there are scarce studies analyzing them. Resources are limited and have to be distributed efficiently. The objective of this study was to explore what resources and activities are potentially associated with a higher scientific productivity.

METHODS

A bibliometric study was performed to obtain information about scientific productivity. Papers included had to meet criteria to be considered clinical research in dermatology, additionally had to be published between the years 2005-2014, had to be included in Pubmed or Embase and had to include a Spanish center of dermatology as the correspondence address. Information about research resources and activities of the year 2015 was gathered by means of an online survey sent to the authors identified in the bibliometric study.

RESULTS

The search strategy returned 8617 papers and only 1104 of them (12.81%) met the inclusion criteria. 63 out of 113 centers responded to the survey (55.75%). Factors associated with a higher scientific productivity were: the size of the resident program, the amount of time specifically dedicated to research, a lower clinical workload, and the number of clinical trials performed in the last year.

CONCLUSIONS

We have demonstrated that some factors are associated with a higher scientific productivity. Residency program, more research staff, clinical workload redistribution and research motivation/initiatives are key strategies that could improve scientific productivity of a center.

Political priority of oral health in India: analysis of the reasons for neglect

OBJECTIVES

To examine the political priority of oral health in India and to understand the underlying reasons for the political support oral health receives.

METHODS

The analysis is based on the political power framework developed by Shiffman and Smith and modified by Benzian et al. to examine the factors that contribute to the political priority of oral health in India. The framework comprises four main analysis categories, further subdivided into 11 dimensions. Based on the set of criteria, each dimension was analyzed and rated by assigning a score to assess to what extend the criteria were met.

RESULTS

There is a good understanding on what defines an oral health problem, however, there is no consolidated and comprehensive approach to address oral diseases. Despite India's efforts to improve oral health-related research, its poor utilization in terms of public health and population-based approaches is apparent. The absence of a national surveillance system for oral health masks the severity and extent of the oral disease burden and limits the basis for advocacy on improving oral health to health decision makers. The fragmentation of actors and institutions and the absence of leaders uniting various actors in oral public health impede changes toward improving the oral health status of the population.

CONCLUSIONS

Limited accessibility to oral health care, poor portrayals of the severity and extent of the burden, and inertia to address-related challenges are important factors contributing to the low political priority of oral health.