A bibliometric analysis of literature on malaria vector resistance: (1996 - 2015)

Global research landscape and trends in Toxoplasma gondii from 2003 to 2022: A bibliometric analysis

Toxoplasmosis is a globally prevalent zoonotic disease with significant public health impact, yet effective prevention and control measures remain lacking. This study analyzed 10,737 publications from 2003 to 2022 in the Web of Science and Scopus databases using bibliometric methods. Key metrics, including annual publication trends, journals, core authors, contributing countries, citations, and keywords, were examined. The findings indicate that publication output in toxoplasmosis research has remained stable, with core journals predominantly in the parasitology field. The United States leads in research capacity and contributions, followed by Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, while China shows promising potential. Epidemiological research has been a longstanding hotspot in this field, encompassing areas such as diagnosis, prevention, treatment, virulence analysis, and genotyping. The field is expanding towards mechanistic research and translational applications, shifting its emphasis from basic science to practical public health applications and disease prevention strategies. Current research frontiers and emerging trends focus on host-pathogen interactions, innovative prevention and control methods, and the global public health implications of toxoplasmosis. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the past two decades of progress in toxoplasmosis research, offering valuable insights for future studies and academic development.

75 years' journey of malaria publications in English: what and where?

Malaria has inflicted serious morbidity and mortality across the globe. The major brunt of the disease has been on African, South-East Asian and South American countries. Proportionally, malaria has attracted global research priorities and this is evident from the number of publications related to malaria from across the globe, irrespective of its endemicity. However, formal and exhaustive analyses of these 'malaria publications' are rarely reported. The systematic review and secondary data analyses were done to retrieve information on what has been published on malaria, where is it published, and which countries are major contributors to malaria research.The study presents malaria publications from 1945 to 2020 retrieved using three databases: Web of Science™, Embase® and Scopus®. Exported data were examined to determine the number of publications over time, their subject areas, contributions from various countries/organizations, and top publishing journals.The total number of published records on malaria ranged from 90,282 to 112,698 (due to three different databases). Based on the number of publications, USA, UK, France, and India were identified as the top four countries. Malaria Journal, American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, and PLoS One were the most preferred journals, whereas the University of London (Institutions other than LSHTM), the National Institute of Health, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the University of Oxford appeared to be the top contributing organization.A disproportional contribution to malaria research was observed with non-malaria endemic countries making the largest contribution. Databases differed in their output format and needed standardization to make the outputs comparable across databases.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome: a comparative bibliometric analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to analyze and map scientific literature on Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) and Serotonin Syndrome (SS) from prestigious, internationally indexed journals. The objective was to identify key topics, impactful articles, prominent journals, research output, growth patterns, hotspots, and leading countries in the field, providing valuable insights for scholars, medical students, and international funding agencies.

METHODS

A systematic search strategy was implemented in the PubMed MeSH database using specific keywords for NMS and SS. The search was conducted in the Scopus database, renowned for its extensive coverage of scholarly publications. Inclusion criteria comprised articles published from 1950 to December 31st, 2022, restricted to journal research and review articles written in English. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel for descriptive analysis, and VOSviewer was employed for bibliometric mapping.

RESULTS

The search yielded 1150 articles on NMS and 587 on SS, with the majority being case reports. Growth patterns revealed a surge in NMS research between 1981 and 1991, while SS research increased notably between 1993 and 1997. Active countries and journals differed between NMS and SS, with psychiatry journals predominating for NMS and pharmacology/toxicology journals for SS. Authorship analysis indicated higher multi-authored articles for NMS. Top impactful articles focused on review articles and pathogenic mechanisms. Research hotspots included antipsychotics and catatonia for NMS, while SS highlighted drug interactions and specific medications like linezolid and tramadol.

CONCLUSIONS

NMS and SS represent rare but life-threatening conditions, requiring detailed clinical and scientific understanding. Differential diagnosis and management necessitate caution in prescribing medications affecting central serotonin or dopamine systems, with awareness of potential drug interactions. International diagnostic tools and genetic screening tests may aid in safe diagnosis and prevention. Reporting rare cases and utilizing bibliometric analysis enhance knowledge dissemination and research exploration in the field of rare drug-induced medical conditions.

Toward a Value-Based Therapy Recommendation Model

Patient value is an important factor in clinical decision making, but conventionally, it is not incorporated in the decision processes. Clinical decision making has some clinical guidelines as a reference. There are very few value-based clinical guidelines, but knowledge about how values affect decision making is mentioned in some scattered studies in the literature. We use a literature review method to extract evidence and integrate it as part of the decision-making model. In this paper, a value-based therapy recommendation comprehensive model is proposed. A literature analysis is conducted to collect value-based evidence. The patients' values are defined and classified with fine granularity. Categorized values and candidate therapies are used in combination as filtering keywords to build this literature database. The literature analysis method generates a literature database used as a source of arguments for influencing decision making based on values. Then, a formalism model is put forward to integrate the value-based evidence with clinical evidence, and the literature databases and clinical guidelines are collected and analyzed to populate the evidence repository. During the decision-making processes, the evidence repository is utilized to match patients' clinical information and values. Decision-makers can dynamically adjust the relative importance of the two pieces of evidence to obtain a treatment plan that is more suitable for the patient. A prototype system was implemented using a case study for breast cancer and validated for feasibility and effectiveness through controlled experiments.

A Forty-Year Analysis of the Literature on Babesia Infection (1982-2022): A Systematic Bibliometric Approach

Babesia infection is a tick-borne protozoan disease associated with significant veterinary, economic, and medical importance. This infection affects many hosts, ranging from wild to domestic animals and including man. All vertebrates serve as potential carriers due to the huge diversity of the species. Babesiosis has been associated with severe economic loss in livestock production, especially in cattle farming, and is also a major public health concern in man, which could be fatal. The infection is usually opportunistic, ranging from asymptomatic to symptomatic, usually in immunocompromised subjects or under conditions of stressful management. This study was designed to uncover trends in relation to publication growth and further explore research output regarding babesiosis from data indexed in the WoS. The WoS is the only platform used to map publications on Babesia infection. The search term "babesiosis" or "Babesia infection" was used to extract articles published across the study period from 1982 to 2022. The inclusion criteria were restricted to only articles for the analysis. The results from the search query showed that a total of 3763 articles were published during the study period with an average of 91.70 ± 43.87 articles annually and an average total citation (n = 1874.8). An annual growth rate of 2.5% was recorded during the study period. The year 2021 had the highest number of published articles (n = 193, 5.1%) and citations (n = 7039). The analysis of the most relevant keywords and titles showed that infection (n = 606, 16.1%), babesiosis (n = 444, 11.7%), and Babesia (n = 1302, 16%) were the most relevant keyword plus (ID), author keyword (DE), and title, respectively. The common conceptual framework analysis through K-means clustering showed two clusters comprising 4 and 41 elements, respectively. The United States of America is the top-performing country in terms of article production (n = 707, 20.8%) and the leading funder for babesiosis research, with two of its agencies ranked at the top. These are the Department of Health and Human Services (n = 254, 6.7%) and the National Institute of Health (n= 238,6.3%). Igarashi I. is the top-performing author (n = 231, 6.1%), while Veterinary Parasitology is ranked the top journal (n = 393, 10.4%) in terms of babesiosis publications. Overall, an increase in publications was observed in the study period, with significant output from developed nations.

Genetically modified foods: bibliometric analysis on consumer perception and preference

In this study, we present the bibliometric trends emerging from research outputs on consumer perception and preference for genetically modified (GM) foods and policy prescriptions for enabling the consumption using VOSviewer visualization software. Consumers' positive response is largely influenced by the decision of the governments to ban or approve the GM crops cultivation. Similarly, the public support increases when the potential benefits of the technology are well articulated, consumption increases with a price discount, people's trust on the government and belief in science increases with a positive influence by the media. Europe and the USA are the first region and country, respectively, in terms of the number of active institutions per research output, per-capita GDP publication and citations. We suggest research-, agri-food industries-, and society-oriented policies to be implemented by the stakeholders to ensure the safety of GM foods, encourage consumer-based studies, and increase public awareness toward these food products.

Malaria research in the Central African Republic from 1987 to 2020: an overview

Background

The national malaria control policy in the Central African Republic (CAR) promotes basic, clinical, and operational research on malaria in collaboration with national and international research institutions. Preparatory work for the elaboration of National Strategic Plans for the implementation of the national malaria control policy includes developing the research component, thus requiring an overview of national malaria research. Here, this survey aims to provide an inventory of malaria research as a baseline for guiding researchers and health authorities in choosing the future avenues of research.

Methods

Data sources and search strategy were defined to query the online Medline/PubMed database using the “medical subject headings” tool. Eligibility and study inclusion criteria were applied to the selected articles, which were classified based on year, research institute affiliations, and research topic.

Results

A total of 118 articles were retrieved and 51 articles were ultimately chosen for the bibliometric analysis. The number of publications on malaria has increased over time from 1987 to 2020. These articles were published in 32 different journals, the most represented being the Malaria Journal (13.73%) and the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (11.76%). The leading research topics were drug evaluation (52.94%), expatriate patients (23.54%), malaria in children (17.65%), morbidity (13.7%), and malaria during pregnancy (11.76%). The publications’ authors were mainly affiliated with the Institut Pasteur of Bangui (41%), the French Military Medical Service (15.5%), and the University of Bangui (11.7%). Collaborations were mostly established with France, the UK, and the USA; some collaborations involved Switzerland, Austria, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka, Benin, Cameroun, Ivory Coast, and Madagascar. The main sources of research funding were French agencies (28.6%) and international agencies (18.3%). Most studies included were not representative of the whole country. The CAR has the capacity to carry out research on malaria and to ensure the necessary collaborations.

Conclusion

Malaria research activities in the CAR seem to reflect the priorities of national policy. One remaining challenge is to develop a more representative approach to better characterize malaria cases across the country. Finally, future research and control measures need to integrate the effect of COVID-19.

Global network mapping research landscape and trends of the endogenous retroviruses: a look through bibliometric analysis

Endogenous retrovirus (ERV) research amalgamates host-retroviral coevolutionary, phylogenomic, infection, immunity, and cellular studies in various hosts ranging from fish to humans. Henceforth, a bibliometric analysis of these publications may aid in the identification of trends in ERV research. It was the foremost bibliographic study, with the key aim to conduct the bibliometric network analysis (e.g. co-authorship, co-occurrence, citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-citation analysis) to find the most prolific authors, organizations, and countries in ERV research, based on the mapping of bibliographic data. Second, the mapping based on text data comprised to chalk out the research trend over the time. The global literature about endogenous retroviruses published between 1985 and Sep 2021 was searched in the Web of Science (Core Collection) database using the “ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUS” keyword. The bibliometric analysis of this dataset was carried out using VOSviewer version 1.6.17. According to findings, English was the de facto language of these publications, and 2157 were original articles. Among 2939 published documents, “endogenous retrovirus” was the most frequent keyword. Moreover, it revealed the United States as a core contributor to studies on the ERV. The Journal of Virology published a substantial amount of manuscripts in ERV. Robert Koch Institute and Harvard University were leading organizations for research in this field. The application of ERV research from China could be the research hotspot to follow in the coming years. Current bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive picture of ERV research progress and has highlighted the contribution of different stakeholders.

Does health-related poverty publication landscape reflect global needs in the light of the current poverty rebound?

BACKGROUND

After nearly a quarter-century of declining poverty, the numbers are rising again significantly. This is due not only to effects of climate change but also to the COVID-19 pandemics and armed conflict. Combined with the enormous health impacts, that will cause misery and health care costs worldwide. Therefore, this study provides background information on the global research landscape on poverty and health to help researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers determine the best way to address this threat.

RESULTS

The USA is the key player, dealing mainly with domestic issues. European countries are also involved but tend to be more internationally oriented. Developing countries are underrepresented, with Nigeria standing out. A positive correlation was found between publication numbers and economic strength, while the relationship between article numbers and multidimensional poverty was negatively correlated.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the need for advanced networking and the benefits of cross-disciplinary research to mitigate the coming impacts.

Global research activity on mathematical modeling of transmission and control of 23 selected infectious disease outbreak

BACKGROUND

Mathematical analysis and modeling allow policymakers to understand and predict the dynamics of an infectious disease under several different scenarios. The current study aimed to analyze global research activity on mathematical modeling of transmission and control of several infectious diseases with a known history of serious outbreaks.

METHODS

Relevant publications were retrieved using a comprehensive validated search query. The database used was SciVerse Scopus. Indicators related to evolution, growth of publications, infectious diseases encountered, key players, citations, and international research collaboration were presented.

RESULTS

The search strategy found 5606. The growth of publications started in 1967 and showed a sharp rise in 2020 and 2021. The retrieved articles received relatively high citations (h-index = 158). Despite being multidisciplinary, Plos One journal made the highest contribution to the field. The main findings of the study are summarized as follows: (a) COVID-19 had a strong impact on the number of publications in the field, specifically during the years 2020 and 2021; (b) research in the field was published in a wide range of journals, mainly those in the field of infectious diseases and mathematical sciences; (c) research in the field was mainly published by scholars in the United States and the United Kingdom; (d) international research collaboration between active countries and less developed countries was poor; (e) research activity relied on research groups with a large number of researchers per group indicative of good author-author collaboration; (f) HIV/AIDS, coronavirus disease, influenza, and malaria were the most frequently researched diseases; (g) recently published articles on COVID-19 received the highest number of citations; and (h) researchers in the Eastern Mediterranian and South-East Asian regions made the least contribution to the retrieved articles.

CONCLUSION

Mathematical modeling is gaining popularity as a tool for understanding the dynamics of infectious diseases. The application of mathematical modeling on new emerging infectious disease outbreaks is a priority. Research collaboration with less developed countries in the field of mathematical epidemiology is needed and should be prioritized and funded.

Bibliometric Profile and Density Visualizing Analysis of Yoga Intervention in Type 2 Diabetes: A 44 - Year Study on Global Scientific Research Output from 1975 to 2019

The aim of the paper is to provide an in-depth evaluation of the research output of yoga intervention on type 2 diabetes mellitus from 1975 to 2019 using large-scale data analysis, bibliometric indicators, and density equalizing mapping. Data related to yoga-diabetic research, as search descriptors were retrieved using the Scopus database. The most common bibliometric indicators were annual research output, total citations, productive countries and leading authors, journals and institutions, and frequently cited articles. The number of global research articles retrieved for yoga-diabetic research over the study period 1975-2019 was 411. The growth rate of global publications in 2015-2019 is four times as high as in 1975-2003. The total number of citations for the retrieved articles was 7189, and the average number of citations per article was 23.82. Of these journals, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine has published the highest number of papers, which accounts for 2.9% of total publications. This study showed a wide variety of journals in which yoga-diabetic articles are published; these bibliometric indicators provide useful information on performance assessment of productivity and quality of research output. Therefore, this study provides a helpful reference for endocrinologists, yoga therapists, policy decision-makers, and diabetes researchers.

Research supporting malaria control and elimination in China over four decades: a bibliometric analysis of academic articles published in chinese from 1980 to 2019

BACKGROUND

China has accumulated considerable experience in malaria control and elimination over the past decades. Many research papers have been published in Chinese journals. This study intends to describe the development and experience of malaria control and elimination in China by quantitatively analysing relevant research using a bibliometric analysis.

METHODS

A long-term, multistage bibliometric analysis was performed. Research articles published in Chinese journals from 1980 to 2019 were retrieved from the Wanfang and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. Year of publication, journal name and keywords were extracted by the Bibliographic Items Co-occurrence Matrix Builder (BICOMB). The K/A ratio (the frequency of a keyword among the total number of articles within a certain period) was considered an indicator of the popularity of a keyword in different decades. VOSviewer software was used to construct keyword co-occurrence network maps.

RESULTS

A total of 16,290 articles were included. The overall number of articles continually increased. However, the number of articles published in the last three years decreased. There were two kinds of keyword frequency trends among the different decades. The K/A ratio of the keyword 'Plasmodium falciparum' decreased (17.05 in the 1980s, 13.04% in the 1990s, 9.86 in the 2000s, 5.28 in the 2010s), but those of 'imported case' and 'surveillance' increased. Drug resistance has been a continuous concern. The keyword co-occurrence network maps showed that the themes of malaria research diversified, and the degree of multidisciplinary cooperation gradually increased.

CONCLUSIONS

This bibliometric analysis revealed the trends in malaria research in China over the past 40 years. The results suggest emphasis on investigation, multidisciplinary participation and drug resistance by researchers and policymakers in malaria epidemic areas. The results also provide domestic experts with qualitative evidence of China's experience in malaria control and elimination.

Bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature on antimicrobial stewardship from 1990 to 2019

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization recommended the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in the clinical settings to minimize the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The current study aimed to assess global research activity on AMS as one measure for efforts dedicated to contain AMR.

METHOD

A bibliometric method was applied using Scopus. A validated search query was implemented. Bibliometric indicators and mapping were generated. The study period was from 1990 to 2019. The search query utilized the keywords "antimicrobial stewardship" or "antibiotic stewardship" in the titles or abstracts. In addition, documents with the term "restrict" or "restriction" if used with the terms "antimicrobial" or "antibiotic" were retrieved.

RESULTS

The search query returned 4402 documents. The keyword "antimicrobial stewardship" returned 2849 documents while the keyword "antibiotic stewardship" returned 1718 documents. The terms restrict/restriction and antimicrobial/antibiotics returned 209 documents. The number of publications and cumulative citations showed a steep and parallel increase in the last decade. The region of the Americas returned the most while the Eastern Mediterranean region returned the least. The United States (n = 1834, 41.7%) ranked first. Main research themes in the retrieved literature were the (1) impact of AMS on hospital length stay, (2) role of pharmacists, and (3) development of resistance of various pathogens. Clostridium difficile (n = 94) and Staphylococcus aureus (n = 76) were among the most frequently encountered author keywords. The Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology journal ranked first (n = 245, 5.6%, h-index = 134) while documents published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal (h-index = 321) received the highest number of citations per document (70.7). At the institutional level, the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (n = 93, 2.1%) ranked first followed by the Imperial College London (n = 86, 2.0%). The main funding sponsors were the National Institute of Health. Pfizer, Merck, and Bayer pharmaceutical companies played a key role in funding AMS research. International research collaboration between developed (n = 3693, 83.9%) and developing countries (n = 759, 17.2%).

CONCLUSION

The fight against AMR is a global responsibility and implementation of AMS need to be carried out across the globe. International research collaboration between developing and developed countries should be encouraged.

30 years of parasitology research analysed by text mining

Bibliometric methods were used to analyse the major research trends, themes and topics over the last 30 years in the parasitology discipline. The tools used were SciMAT, VOSviewer and SWIFT-Review in conjunction with the parasitology literature contained in the MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and Dimensions databases. The analyses show that the major research themes are dynamic and continually changing with time, although some themes identified based on keywords such as malaria, nematode, epidemiology and phylogeny are consistently referenced over time. We note the major impact of countries like Brazil has had on the literature of parasitology research. The increase in recent times of research productivity on 'antiparasitics' is discussed, as well as the change in emphasis on different antiparasitic drugs and insecticides over time. In summary, innovation in parasitology is global, extensive, multidisciplinary, constantly evolving and closely aligned with the availability of technology.

Bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature on climate change and human health with an emphasis on infectious diseases

Background

Assessing research activity is important for planning future protective and adaptive policies. The objective of the current study was to assess research activity on climate change and health with an emphasis on infectious diseases.

Method

A bibliometric method was applied using SciVerse Scopus. Documents on climate change and human health were called “health-related literature” while documents on climate change and infectious diseases were called “infection-related literature”. The study period was from 1980 to 2019.

Results

The search query found 4247 documents in the health-related literature and 1207 in the infection-related literature. The growth of publications showed a steep increase after 2007. There were four research themes in the health-related literature: (1) climate change and infectious diseases; (2) climate change, public health and food security; (3) heat waves, mortality, and non-communicable diseases; and (4) climate change, air pollution, allergy, and respiratory health. The most frequently encountered pathogens/infectious diseases in the infection-related literature were malaria and dengue. Documents in infection-related literature had a higher h-index than documents in the health-related literature. The top-cited documents in the health-related literature focused on food security, public health, and infectious diseases while those in infection-related literature focused on water-, vector-, and mosquito-borne diseases. The European region had the highest contribution in health-related literature (n = 1626; 38.3%) and infection-related literature (n = 497; 41.2%). The USA led with 1235 (29.1%) documents in health-related literature and 365 (30.2%) documents in infection-related literature. The Australian National University ranked first in the health-related literature while the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ranked first in the infection-related literature. International research collaboration was inadequate. Documents published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal received the highest citations per document. A total of 1416 (33.3%) documents in the health-related literature were funded while 419 (34.7%) documents in the infection-related literature were funded.

Conclusion

Research on climate change and human health is on the rise with research on infection-related issues making a good share. International research collaboration should be funded and supported. Future research needs to focus on the impact of climate change on psychosocial, mental, innovations, policies, and preparedness of health systems.

Virus-like particle vaccine displaying Toxoplasma gondii apical membrane antigen 1 induces protection against T. gondii ME49 infection in mice

Toxoplasmosis is an intracellular parasitic disease caused by the protozoa Toxoplasma gondii, which affects about half of the world's population. In spite of the strenuous endeavors, a T. gondii vaccine for clinical use remains unreported to date. In the present study, we generated virus-like particles (VLPs) containing T. gondii apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) and assessed its efficacy in a murine model. VLPs were characterized using western blot and TEM. T. gondii-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses in sera, germinal center B cell responses in spleen, brain cyst counts and their sizes were determined. Elevated T. gondii-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses were observed from the sera of AMA1 VLP-immunized mice. Immunization with AMA1 VLPs enhanced T. gondii-specific antibody-secreting cell responses and germinal center B cell responses upon antigen stimulation. Brain tissue analysis revealed that AMA1 VLP-immunization reduced cyst formation and its size compared to control. Also, VLP-immunized mice were less susceptible to body weight loss and displayed enhanced survival rate compared to the control group. Our results demonstrated that the immune response induced by T. gondii AMA1 VLPs confer partial protection against T. gondii infection and provides important insight into potential T. gondii vaccine design strategy.

A bibliometric analysis of human strongyloidiasis research (1968 to 2017)

Background

Strongyloidiasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD). It is commonly associated with poverty and poor hygiene. Strongyloidiasis poses an unseen global public health problem. The aim of this study was to assess and analyze peer-reviewed literature on human strongyloidiasis to shed light on the evolution, volume, important topics, and key players in the field of human strongyloidiasis.

Methods

A validated bibliometric method was implemented using Scopus database for the study period from 1968 to 2017. The search strategy was developed based on keywords related to strongyloidiasis. Bibliometric indicators and visualization maps were presented.

Results

In total, 1947 documents were found. Retrieved documents received 32,382 citations, an average of approximately 16.6 per document, and an h-index of 76. The most frequently encountered keywords in the retrieved literature focused on hyperinfection, diagnosis, prevalence, and ivermectin. The USA led with 540 (27.7%) documents followed by Brazil (139; 7.1%) and Japan (137; 7.0%). When research output was standardized by income and population size, India ranked first (12.4 documents per GDP/capita) followed by the USA (9.1 documents per GDP/capita). The most active journal involved in publishing articles was the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (95; 4.8%). In terms of institutions, the University of Ryukyus (Japan) was the most active with 62 (3.2%) publications, followed by the University of Pennsylvania with 54 (2.8%) publications.

Conclusion

The volume, growth, and international research collaboration in human strongyloidiasis were inadequate given the long history of the disease, the large number of affected people, and the results obtained for other NTDs. Research in human strongyloidiasis needs to be strengthened and encouraged in endemic regions in Southeast Asia and Latin America. International research networking needs to be established to achieve the goals of Sustainable Development Goals in fighting and eradicating NTDs by 2030.

Bibliometric analysis of global publications in medication adherence (1900-2017)

OBJECTIVES

Medication non-adherence is a worldwide problem. The aim of this study was to assess the global research output, research trends and topics that shaped medication adherence research.

METHODS

A bibliometric methodology was applied. Keywords related to 'medication adherence' were searched in Scopus database for all times up to 31 December 2017. Retrieved data were analyzsd, and bibliometric indicators and maps were presented.

KEY FINDINGS

In total, 16 133 documents were retrieved. Most frequently encountered author keywords, other than adherence/compliance, were HIV, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia, depression, osteoporosis, asthma and quality of life. The number of documents published from 2008 to 2017 represented 62.0% (n = 10 005) of the total retrieved documents. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 223. The USA ranked first (43.1%; n = 6959), followed by the UK (8.6%; n = 1384) and Canada (4.5%; n = 796). The USA dominated the lists of active authors and institutions. Top active journals in publishing research on medication adherence were mainly in the field of AIDS. Top-cited articles in the field focused on adherence to anti-HIV medications, the impact of depression on medication adherence and barriers to adherence.

CONCLUSION

Adherence among HIV patients dominated the field of medication adherence. Research on medication adherence needs to be strengthened in all countries and in different types of chronic diseases. Research collaboration should also be encouraged to increase research activity on medication adherence in developing countries.

A bibliometric analysis of health-related literature on natural disasters from 1900 to 2017

BACKGROUND

Worldwide, natural disasters have caused a large number of deaths and considerable morbidity. Nevertheless, limited information is available on how the health-related literature on natural disasters has evolved. The current study aims to assess the growth and pattern of health-related literature on natural disasters.

METHOD

A bibliometric method was implemented using Scopus database for the period from 1900 to 2017. Keywords used in the search strategy were obtained from the classifications of natural disasters presented by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. The health component was determined by selecting the health-related subject areas in Scopus.

RESULTS

In total, 9073 documents were retrieved. The annual number of publications showed a noticeable sharp increase after 2004. The retrieved documents received 97,605 citations, an average of 10.8 per document. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 113. Author keywords with the highest occurrence were 'earthquakes' followed by 'disaster medicine', 'disaster planning', 'tsunami', 'mental health', 'disaster preparedness', 'PTSD', 'emergency preparedness', and 'public health'. Authors from the United States of America contributed to 3127 (34.5%) publications and ranked first, followed by those from Japan (700; 7.7%) and China (636; 7.0%). When research output was standardised by Gross Domestic Product per capita, India ranked first, followed by China and the United States. The United Kingdom had the highest percentage of documents with international authors, followed by those from Switzerland and Canada. The Prehospital and Disaster Medicine journal published the most articles (636; 7.0%). The Sichuan University and its affiliated hospital contributed to 384 (7.0%) documents and ranked first in the field.

CONCLUSION

The current baseline information on health-related literature on natural disasters showed that this field is growing rapidly but with inadequate international research collaboration. Research collaboration in this field needs to be strengthened to improve the global response to natural disasters in any place in the world. There is a need to expand the research focus in this field to include communicable and non-communicable diseases. Finally, the health effects of other natural disasters, such as floods, droughts and disease outbreaks, need to be addressed.

A global bibliometric analysis of Plesiomonas-related research (1990 - 2017)

Plesiomonas shigelloides is an emerging pathogen with damaging effects on human health such as gastroenteritis and extraintestinal infections. Here, we carried out a bibliometric survey that aimed to examine publication trends in Plesiomonas-related research by time and place, international collaborative works, identify gaps and suggest directions for future research. The search term "Plesiomonas shigelloides" was used to retrieve articles published between 1990 and 2017 from the Web of Science database. Only primary research articles were included in the analysis. A total of 155 articles were published within the survey period, with an average of 5.54±2.66 articles per year and an annual growth rate of -0.8%. Research output peaked in 2000 and 2006 (each accounting for 7.7% of the total). The United States ranked first in terms of numbers of articles (n = 29, 18.1%) and total citations (n = 451). Cameroon, Canada, Cuba, Switzerland and Turkey co-shared the 10th position each with 2 articles (1.3%). Research collaboration was low (collaboration index = 3. 32). In addition to Plesiomonas shigelloides (n = 82, 52.9%), the top Authors Keywords and research focus included lipopolysaccharide and nuclear magnetic resonance (n = 13, 8.4%). Diarrhea (n = 43, 27.7%), Aeromonas species (n = 41, 26.5%) and infections (n = 31, 20.0%) were also highly represented in Keywords-Plus. Authors' collaborations and coupling networks formed two mega-clusters which nodes were shared solely by authors from high-income countries. The common conceptual framework in retrieved articles determined by K-means clustering revealed three clusters with sizes of 7, 16, and 29, representing research responses focused on extraintestinal and gastroenteritis, P. shigelloides lipopolysaccharide structure, and co-infections, respectively. Our bibliometric analysis revealed a global diminishing research in Plesiomonas; greater research outcomes from high-income countries compared to others and low collaboration with developing countries.

Research trends on human trafficking: a bibliometric analysis using Scopus database

BACKGROUND

Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. It is also a serious threat to global health and security. Globalization has made human trafficking an easier task for the criminal organizations. No data are available on the volume, research trends, and key players in this field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the research activity and research trends on human trafficking.

METHODS

A bibliometric method was adopted. Literature published in academic journals indexed in Scopus database was retrieved. The study period was set from 2000 to 2017.

RESULTS

Two thousand forty-four documents were retrieved. The average number of authors per document was 1.9. Over one third (n = 771; 37.7%) of the retrieved documents were about sex trafficking, 616 (30.1%) were about labor trafficking/forced labor, 199 (9.7%) were about child trafficking, and 138 (6.8%) were about organ trafficking. One third (n = 707; 34.6%) of the documents were in health-related fields while 1526 (74.7%) were in social sciences and humanities. The USA ranked first (n = 735; 36.0%) regarding the number of published documents. Geographic distribution of the retrieved document showed that world regions with a high prevalence of human trafficking had the least research contribution. International research collaboration has a limited contribution to the retrieved literature. The Harvard University (USA) was the most active institution (n = 39; 1.9%). International Migration (n = 35; 1.7%) was the most active journal in publishing documents on HT. Documents published in Transplantation journal received the highest number of citations per document (25.5) and two of the most cited documents were about organ trafficking.

CONCLUSION

There was an under-representation of health-related literature on human trafficking. Literature on sex trafficking dominated the field of human trafficking. Research networks and research collaboration between the source and destination countries is important. Future research plans need to focus on health issues and on exploited/trafficked laborers.

Worldwide research productivity in the field of back pain: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to show the world research productivity in the field of back pain and to help researchers follow the scientific development and promote the cooperation in this field.

METHODS

Web of Science (WoS) database was searched from 1995 to 2016 without other restrictions. The keywords were as follows: "lumbar NEAR pain," "back pain," "dorsalgia," "backache," "lumbago," "back NEAR disorder," and "discitis." The following information of retrieved articles was analyzed: countries/territories, journals, publication year, authors, citation reports, and institutions. Publication activity was further adjusted for countries by gross domestic product (GDP) and population size.

RESULTS

A total of 50,970 articles were retrieved in WoS database from 1995 to 2016. The United States published the biggest number of articles (16,818, 33.00%), followed by England (4,582, 8.99%), Germany (3,871, 7.60%), Canada (3,613, 7.09%), and Australia (3,063, 6.01%). Sweden ranked the first after adjusted for publication, and Netherlands ranked the first after adjusted for GDP. Besides, there was positive correlation between total number of publications and GDP for each country (P < .05). Harvard University was the most productive institution (917, 1.80%), Maher CG was the most productive author (229, 0.45%) and Spine was the most popular journal (3605, 7.07%) in the field of back pain research. Moreover, the article titled "Clinical importance of changes in chronic pain intensity measured on an 11-point numerical pain rating scale" in Pain had the highest citations (1749).

CONCLUSION

There was a significant increase in annual publications concerning back pain research worldwide. The total number of publications was positively associated with GDP in main productive countries. The United States was the most productive country, Harvard University was the most productive institution, Maher CG was the most productive author and Spine was the most popular journal in the field of back pain.

Publication trends and knowledge mapping in 3D printing in orthopaedics

PURPOSE

Three dimensional (3D) printing, also called 'rapid prototyping' and 'additive manufacturing' is considered as a "second industrial revolution." With this rapidly emerging technology, CT or MR images are used for the creation of graspable objects from 3D reconstituted images. Patient-specific anatomical models can be, therefore, manufactured efficiently. These can enhance surgeon's understanding of their patients' patho-anatomy and also help in precise preoperative planning. The 3D printed patient-specific guides can also help in achieving accurate bony cuts, precise implant placement, and nice surgical results. Customized implants, casts, orthoses and prosthetics can be created to match an individual patient's anatomy. The 3D printing of individualized artificial cartilage scaffolds and 3D bioprinting are some other areas of growing interest. We aim to study the publication trends in 3D printing as applied to the field of orthopaedics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A literature search was performed to extract all papers related to 3D printing applications in orthopaedics and allied sciences on the Pubmed, Web of Science and SCOPUS databases. Suitable keywords and boolean operators ("3D Printing" OR "3-dimensional printing" OR "3D printed" OR "additive manufacturing" OR "rapid prototyping") AND (''Orthopaedics" OR "Orthopaedics'') were used, in May 2018. Search was attempted in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Database of Abstracts of Review of Effectiveness (DARE) databases, using keywords 3d printing orthopaedics. A similar search was repeated in pubmed and SCOPUS to get more specific papers.No limits were set on the period or evidence level, as 3D printing in orthopaedics is relatively new and evidence available is usually limited to low-level studies. Trends in a publication on these topics were analyzed, focussing on publications, type of research (basic science or clinical), type of publication, authors, institution, and country. Some citations received by these papers were also analyzed in SCOPUS and Web of Science. MS Excel (2008 - Mac version) and VOS Viewer1.6.8 (2018- Mac version) software were used to analyze the search results and for citation mapping respectively. We also identified top 10 most cited articles in the field.

RESULTS

An increasing trend in publications in 3D printing-related work in orthopedic surgery and related fields was observed in the recent past. A search on Pubmed using the above strategy revealed 389 documents. A similar search revealed 653 documents on SCOPUS, many (314) of which were from an engineering background and only 271 were related to medicine. No papers were found in the Cochrane database. Search on TRIP database revealed 195 papers. A similar search revealed 237 papers on orthopedic applications on Pubmed and 269 documents on SCOPUS, whereas a search on Web of Science revealed only 23 papers. Publication trends were then analyzed on data derived from SCOPUS database. Overall, most papers were published from China, followed by United States, United Kingdom, and India.

CONCLUSION

There has been an upsurge of interest in 3D printing in orthopedic surgery, as is evident by an increasing trend in research and publications in this area in the recent years. Presently, 3D printing is in a primitive stage in the field of orthopedic surgery as our knowledge is still insufficient, and costs and learning curve are somewhat high. However, looking at latest publication trends, we are enthusiastic that it holds the key to future in orthopaedics and trauma cases.

Bibliometric analysis of global migration health research in peer-reviewed literature (2000-2016)

BACKGROUND

The health of migrants has become an important issue in global health and foreign policy. Assessing the current status of research activity and identifying gaps in global migration health (GMH) is an important step in mapping the evidence-base and on advocating health needs of migrants and mobile populations. The aim of this study was to analyze globally published peer-reviewed literature in GMH.

METHODS

A bibliometric analysis methodology was used. The Scopus database was used to retrieve documents in peer-reviewed journals in GMH for the study period from 2000 to 2016. A group of experts in GMH developed the needed keywords and validated the final search strategy.

RESULTS

The number of retrieved documents was 21,457. Approximately one third (6878; 32.1%) of the retrieved documents were published in the last three years of the study period. In total, 5451 (25.4%) documents were about refugees and asylum seekers, while 1328 (6.2%) were about migrant workers, 440 (2.1%) were about international students, 679 (3.2%) were about victims of human trafficking/smuggling, 26 (0.1%) were about patients' mobility across international borders, and the remaining documents were about unspecified categories of migrants. The majority of the retrieved documents (10,086; 47.0%) were in psychosocial and mental health domain, while 2945 (13.7%) documents were in infectious diseases, 6819 (31.8%) documents were in health policy and systems, 2759 (12.8%) documents were in maternal and reproductive health, and 1918 (8.9%) were in non-communicable diseases. The contribution of authors and institutions in Asian countries, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Eastern European countries was low. Literature in GMH represents the perspectives of high-income migrant destination countries.

CONCLUSION

Our heat map of research output shows that despite the ever-growing prominence of human mobility across the globe, and Sustainable Development Goals of leaving no one behind, research output on migrants' health is not consistent with the global migration pattern. A stronger evidence base is needed to enable authorities to make evidence-informed decisions on migration health policy and practice. Research collaboration and networks should be encouraged to prioritize research in GMH.

Global research output in antimicrobial resistance among uropathogens: A bibliometric analysis (2002-2016)

OBJECTIVES

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among uropathogens contributes to treatment failure. Research in AMR among uropathogens is important to establish treatment options. This study assessed global research trends in AMR among uropathogens.

METHODS

SciVerse Scopus was used to retrieve relevant documents for the period 2002-2016. Only journal articles were included in the analysis. Analysis of author keywords was carried out using VOSviewer.

RESULTS

A total of 1087 journal articles were retrieved with an h-index of 50. The number of publications increased noticeably in the past decade. Analysis of subject areas of retrieved documents showed that 275 (25.3%) articles were in molecular biology/genetics/microbiology/immunology, 197 (18.1%) were in pharmacological/therapeutic approaches for treatment of urinary tract infections and 615 (56.6%) were in epidemiology/public health. Terms such as multidrug-resistant and extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) appeared more frequently in documents published in the period 2012-2016. The mean number of authors per article was 5.3. Most active authors in this field were from Japan. The USA ranked first with 148 documents (13.6%), followed by India (97; 8.9%) and Iran (84; 7.7%). The top productive institution was Tehran University of Medical Sciences (21 publications), followed by Kobe University in Japan (20 publications). The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy ranked first with 33 publications.

CONCLUSION

Research in AMR among uropathogens showed a noticeable increase in the past decade. Reports of increasing incidence of resistance among uropathogens were published from different parts of the world. Empirical therapy should be based on updated research in AMR.

Investigating global trends in paraquat intoxication research from 1962 to 2015 using bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Paraquat is considered to be the main pesticide involved in accidental and intentional poisoning, and is responsible for a high rate of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to present a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of paraquat intoxication-related research.

METHODS

Data was retrieved in March 2017 from the Scopus database. An overview of the research on paraquat intoxication was presented alongside the information related to several bibliometric indicators, such as research trends, countries with their h-index, collaboration, hot issues, top-cited publications, journals, and institutions.

RESULTS

There were 1971 publications related to paraquat intoxication in the Scopus database that were published between 1966 and 2015. There was increasing research output in the field of paraquat intoxication during the period 2006-2015. The USA published the highest number of publications (n = 338), followed by Japan with 228 publications, and China with 159 publications. The USA and the UK achieved the greatest h-index values (h-index values of 49 and 31, respectively). The USA also achieved the highest number of publications involving international collaboration, with 55 publications, followed by the UK, with 18 publications. The most prevalent topics in this field were "acute paraquat intoxication," "toxic effects of paraquat to the lung," and "mechanism of paraquat toxicity."

CONCLUSIONS

Although a substantial amount of research has been produced on paraquat intoxication for most developed countries, there are research gaps regarding the international research agenda in this research area. The findings could be applied for prioritizing and organizing future research efforts related to paraquat toxicity.

Bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature in transgender health (1900 - 2017)

BACKGROUND

Transgender community is marginalized and under-researched. Analysis of peer-reviewed literature in transgender health is needed to better understand health needs and human rights of transgender people. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze global research activity in transgender health published in peer-reviewed journals.

METHODS

Peer-reviewed documents in transgender health were retrieved using Scopus database. VOSviewer was used to map frequently encountered author keywords while ArcGIS 10.1 was used to map the geographical distribution of the retrieved documents. Most active countries, institutions, and authors were presented. The study period was set from 1900 to 2017.

RESULTS

In total, 5772 peer-reviewed documents were obtained. English (5008; 86.8%) was the most frequently encountered language. A dramatic increase in the number of publications was seen in the last decade. The retrieved documents had an average of 12.1 citations per document and h-index of 92. Most frequently encountered author keywords were Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), mental health, and discrimination. Authors from 80 different countries contributed to publishing the retrieved documents. Publications originated mainly from Northern America, certain European countries, Australia, and Brazil. Professor Gooren, L.J.G. was the most active author in this field with 104 (1.88%) publications. Top active authors were in the fields of endocrinology, plastic surgery, psychiatry/psychology, public health, and sexology. Five of the top ten active authors were from the USA, three were from the Netherlands, and two were from Belgium. The most active institution was the VU University Medical Center (Netherlands) (184; 3.2%) followed by the University of California, San Francisco (USA) (157; 2.7%). The International Journal of Transgenderism was most active (284; 4.9%) in publishing articles in transgender health. However, documents published in the American Journal of Public Health had the highest impact with 53.5 citations per article.

CONCLUSION

There was a noticeable growth of research in transgender health in the last decade. Researchers from different world regions need to get involved in health and human rights research of transgender community.

Global Trends in Aspirin Resistance-Related Research from 1990 to 2015: A Bibliometric Analysis

Aspirin resistance can be defined as the inability of the usual dose of aspirin medication to produce its antithrombotic effect. Patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease are at higher risk of stroke, myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death due to aspirin resistance. The aim of this bibliometric study was to identify and analyse the status and trends of aspirin resistance research production at global level through publications indexed in the Scopus database; this will shed new light on future research trends and help researchers predict dynamic direction of research. Literature search using the Scopus database was conducted to assess publications related to aspirin resistance. The selected publications included the terms related to aspirin resistance in the title, abstract or keywords. The searching was accomplished on 20 March 2016 and can be considered to include all publications up to 31 December 2015. Global cumulative publication output on aspirin resistance consists of 986 papers during 1990-2015. Among the 986 documents, 19 (1.9%) were published before 2000, 567 (57.5%) were published from 2000 to 2009 and 400 (40.6%) were published from 2010 to 2015, with peak of publications on this topic in 2008. The leading country in the field of aspirin resistance was the United States, which had the greatest counts of independent articles (165) and international collaboration articles (44). Turkey was in the second rank with 78 articles, followed by Italy (68), the UK (62) and Poland (60). The total number of citations for all documents was 26,342, and the average citations per document were 26.7. The h-index for all aspirin resistance publications was 82. This study presents the results of the first bibliometric study (including quantitative and qualitative analysis) of scientific publications in the field of aspirin renitence at global level. Aspirin resistance-related researches have notably increased in the last years, especially from 2000 to 2015. The United States is the most prolific country, not only in research quantity but also in quality. Furthermore, Turkey and European countries provided more research related to aspirin resistance than other regions such as the developing countries.

Bibliometric Analysis of Worldwide Publications on Antimalarial Drug Resistance (2006-2015)

BACKGROUND

In response to international efforts to control and eradicate malaria, we designed this study to give a bibliometric overview of research productivity in antimalarial drug resistance (AMDR).

METHODS

Keywords related to AMDR were used to retrieve relevant literature using Scopus database.

RESULTS

A total of 976 publications with an h-index of 63 were retrieved. The number of publications showed a noticeable increase starting in the early 1990s. The USA was the most productive country with 337 publications equivalent to one-third of worldwide publications in this field. More than two-thirds of publications by the USA (236, 70.03%) were made by international collaboration. Of the top ten productive countries, two countries were from Mekong subregion, particularly Thailand and Cambodia. The Malaria Journal was the most productive journal (136, 13.93%) in this field. Mahidol University (80, 8.20%) in Thailand was the most productive institution. Seven articles in the top-ten list were about artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum, one was about chloroquine resistance, one was about sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance, and the remaining one was about general multidrug resistance.

CONCLUSION

Eradication and control of AMDR require continuing research activity to help international health organizations identify spots that require an immediate action to implement appropriate measures.

Global research trends in West Nile virus from 1943 to 2016: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging infectious disease which is most commonly transmitted to humans through mosquito, and is considered a major public-health problem worldwide. The aim of the current study is to bibliometrically analyze the quantity and quality of publications indexed in Scopus from different countries to reveal the characteristics of global research output regarding WNV.

METHODS

This study is a bibliometric analysis based on the Scopus database. This study focused on identifying WNV publication trends with regard to publication year, publication type, prolific countries, language of publication, as well as, prolific journals, citations, and collaboration patterns.

RESULTS

A total of 4729 publications were considered in this study, which were published between 1943 and 2016. The annual quantity of literature published before 2000 followed a low rate of research growth; while the quantity of publications after 2000 were published in a stage of rapid development. The country with the greatest number of publications in WNV research field was the USA with 2304 (48.7%) publications, followed by France with 224 (4.7%) publications, and Canada with 222 (4.7%) publications. Contributions from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were considerably small, that is, (n = 519 publications; 11%). All publications related to WNV achieved h-index of 140 and were cited 124,222 times. The median [interquartile range] number of citations per article thus amounts to 9 [2-28]. The USA had the highest h-index of 131. Emerging Infectious Diseases is the most productive journal with 227 articles, followed by Journal of Virology with 162 publications. The result designated that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was ranked the first in terms of publication output, followed by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

There is an obvious trend of WNV research after 2000, and countries with high income have more contributions in WNV research field. The research output is low among LMIC. The USA produced the largest number of publications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention obtained the leading position of the institutions in terms of publication output. In general, this study not only presents a full view of global WNV research, but also can contribute for future further research in this field.

Bibliometric analysis of worldwide scientific literature in mobile - health: 2006-2016

BACKGROUND

The advancement of mobile technology had positively influenced healthcare services. An emerging subfield of mobile technology is mobile health (m-Health) in which mobile applications are used for health purposes. The aim of this study was to analyze and assess literature published in the field of m-Health.

METHODS

SciVerse Scopus was used to retrieve literature in m-Health. The study period was set from 2006 to 2016. ArcGIS 10.1 was used to present geographical distribution of publications while VOSviewer was used for data visualization. Growth of publications, citation analysis, and research productivity were presented using standard bibliometric indicators.

RESULTS

During the study period, a total of 5465 documents were published, giving an average of 496.8 documents per year. The h-index of retrieved documents was 81. Core keywords used in literature pertaining to m-Health included diabetes mellitus, adherence, and obesity among others. Relative growth rate and doubling time of retrieved literature were stable from 2009 to 2015 indicating exponential growth of literature in this field. A total of 4638 (84.9%) documents were multi-authored with a mean collaboration index of 4.1 authors per article. The United States of America ranked first in productivity with 1926 (35.2%) published documents. India ranked sixth with 183 (3.3%) documents while China ranked seventh with 155(2.8%) documents. VA Medical Center was the most prolific organization/institution while Journal of Medical Internet Research was the preferred journal for publications in the field of m-Health. Top cited articles in the field of m-Health included the use of mobile technology in improving adherence in HIV patients, weight loss, and improving glycemic control in diabetic patients.

CONCLUSION

The size of literature in m-Health showed a noticeable increase in the past decade. Given the large volume of citations received in this field, it is expected that applications of m-Health will be seen into various health aspects and health services. Research in m-Health needs to be encouraged, particularly in the fight against AIDS, poor medication adherence, glycemic control in Africa and other low income world regions where technology can improve health services and decrease disease burden.

Bibliometric analysis of medicine - related publications on refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people: 2000 - 2015

BACKGROUND

Wars and violent domestic conflicts have forced millions of people to move outside their homes. Meeting the basic health needs of those people requires an understanding of research activity and research output on this topic. The objective of this study was to shed light on the quantity and impact of medicine - related publications on refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people (IDP).

METHOD

Scopus database was used to retrieve required data. Specifically, the number of publications, top productive countries and institutions, highly cited articles, citation analysis, international collaboration, and journals involved in publishing articles on refugees, asylum seekers and IDP were reviewed and analyzed. The time span for the study was set from year 2000 to 2015.

RESULTS

Two thousands five hundred and thirty publications were retrieved. The h-index of retrieved articles was 64. A steep rise in number of publications was noticed after 2011. Top productive countries were the United States of America, Australia and the United Kingdom. The American public health institute (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the United Nations refugee agency were among the top active organizations on this topic. Active journals in publishing on health of refugees, asylum seekers and IDP were those on mental health, psychology, public health and general medicine. Publications on Somali, Afghani, Iraqi, and Syrian refugees received a significant share of medicine-related publications. Analysis of publications based on region showed that publications on refugees from Middle East is rising sharply and is approaching those on African refugees.

CONCLUSION

Bibliometric analysis reveals that research publications on refugees have been increasing in a dramatic way and articles are being published in journals with high impact factor and international reputation, not only in general medicine and public health, but also mental health and psychology journals. Analysis of publications related to refugees can be helpful to international health agencies and governments not only to document the psychological trauma of fled people, but also to identify best mental health programs to face the consequences of wars and aggression that led to this refugee crisis.

Bibliometric analysis of literature on antifungal triazole resistance: 1980 - 2015

BACKGROUND

Triazole antifungal agents play an important role in the treatment of a wide range of fungal infections. Little is known about antifungal triazole drug resistance when compared to antibiotic resistance. Therefore, this study was carried out to give a bibliometric overview of literature on triazole antifungal drug resistance.

METHODS

Keywords related to triazole drug class and resistance were used in a search query in the Scopus search engine. The time span was set from 1980 to 2015. Data pertaining to growth of publications, the most active countries and institutions, the most cited articles, and mapping of molecular mechanisms of resistance were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 1648 journal articles were retrieved with an average of 20.46 citations per article. Annual growth of triazole resistance showed an increasing pattern during the study period. The United States of America (n=446; 27.06%) ranked first in productivity followed by the United Kingdom (UK) (n=176; 10.68%), and China (n=133; 8.07%). Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre (n=69, 4.19%) in the Netherlands ranked first in productivity, while the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ranked first (n=255; 15.47%) in publishing articles on triazole resistance. Mapping mechanisms of resistance showed that efflux pump and mutations in target enzyme are major mechanisms described in resistance to triazoles.

CONCLUSION

There was a growth of publications on triazole resistance in the past two decades with the bulk of publications on triazole resistance in Candida species. The data presented here will serve as baseline information for future comparative purposes.

Global toxocariasis research trends from 1932 to 2015: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Toxocariasis is a highly prevalent parasitic disease in the tropical regions of the world, with its impact on public health being typically underestimated. To better recognise the trends and characteristics of toxocariasis research, this study is a bibliometric analysis of the global toxocariasis research.

METHODS

Searches were completed on April 5, 2016, using the Scopus database. A search without any language restriction was performed to extract publications dealing with toxocariasis. Terms related to toxocariasis were used to perform a title keyword search.

RESULTS

A total of 2765 publications comprising 11 document types and published between 1932 and 2015 were included in the analysis. Articles were the most popular document form, accounting for 83.62% of all publications, followed by letters (3.80%) and reviews (3.4%). The annual number of research publications increased from 30 in 1980 to 111 in 2015, indicating that the number of publications on toxocariasis has increased slowly over the past 35 years. The United States of America and Japan are the predominant countries of origin, with 303 articles and 207 articles, respectively, followed by Brazil and the United Kingdom, with 180 (6.5%) each. The h-index for all the publications was 60. The highest h-index were for publications from the United Kingdom (h-index value = 43) and the United States (h-index value = 39); these two countries were also involved with the highest number of international collaborations, with 27 and 28 countries, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Developed countries, including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, are the world's leaders in toxocariasis research, contributing to more than 34% of the total published literature. In addition, developing countries, such as Brazil, Poland, Argentina and India, showed a noticeable increase in published papers on toxocariasis research in recent years. A push for more collaboration is needed to achieve a superior research strategy related to toxocariasis at the global level from the viewpoint of epidemiological data, clinical aspects, medical ecology, molecular aspects and treatment practices associated with toxocariasis.

Global cocaine intoxication research trends during 1975-2015: a bibliometric analysis of Web of Science publications

BACKGROUND

Cocaine is subject to recreational abuse as a stimulant and psychoactive agent, which poses a major worldwide health problem. The aim of the present study was to perform a bibliometric analysis of publication related to cocaine intoxication an insight of the research trends at a global level to enable recommendations for future research strategies in this field.

METHODS

Publications about cocaine intoxication were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database on December 28, 2016, and analysed regarding the following bibliometric indicators: research trends, document types, languages, countries/territories with their h-index, collaboration patterns, journals with their impact factors (IF), and institutions.

RESULTS

In total, 2,902 scientific publications from 1975 to 2015 were retrieved from the WoS database. The annual number of publications related to cocaine toxicity increased slightly after 1990 and reached a peak of 148 in 1992, with an average of 103 publications per year. The USA outranked other countries/territories with 2,089 publications, of which 1,927 arose exclusively from the USA and 162 involved international collaborations. The h-index for all publications related to cocaine was 212, and the h-index for all publications related to cocaine intoxication was 99. Moreover, the USA had the highest h-index of 95, followed by Spain with h-index of 24, and Canada with h-index of 24. The main research topics were consistently reproductive toxicity, clinical management of acute cocaine exposure, laboratory methods for detection of exposure to cocaine, cocaine metabolism, and cocaine toxicity in animals.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first bibliometric approach to examining research related to cocaine toxicity and shows that research activity has become more global and extensive since 1990. The USA remains the leading country regarding published literature, the highest h-index, and greatest role in international collaborations.

Bibliometric analysis of literature on toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome: 1940 - 2015

Background

Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are rare but fatal adverse skin reactions that affect all age groups. In order to better understand literature on this topic, we conducted a bibliometric study using Scopus database to shed light on number and growth of publications, most active countries, institutions, journals and authors involved in publishing articles in this field, citation analysis, top cited articles, international collaboration, role of medications and genetic association. Bibliometric analysis will enrich the literature on these rare conditions and will provide baseline data for future comparison.

Results

Three thousand eight hundred fifty-six journal articles were retrieved. The h-index of retrieved documents was 95. Growth rates of publications were highest from 1966 to 1975 and from 2006 to 2015. The United States of America (n = 640; 16.57%) was the leading country in number of publications. However, French and Japanese researchers and institutions were most active in publishing articles on SJS and TEN. International collaboration among active countries was relatively low and ranges from 32.5% for Swiss researchers and 1.47% for Spanish researchers. The most frequently mentioned medication in retrieved articles was carbamazepine (n = 146) followed by phenytoin (n = 114) and allopurinol (n = 112). Mycoplasma infection was mentioned in 111 articles. Most documents on SJS and TEN were published in dermatology journals, specifically Archives of Dermatology. However, in the last decade, top cited articles appeared in dermatology and pharmacogenetic journals. Carbamazepine was frequently encountered with Han Chinese and HLA-B 1502 terms while allopurinol was frequently encountered with HLA-B 5801 and Japanese terms.

Conclusion

Bibliometric analysis reveals that research publications on SJS and TEN have been increasing since the l940s, with relatively low international collaboration. Documents are being published, not only in dermatology journals, but also in genetic, public health and general medicine journals. Research on SJS and TEN can be helpful to clinicians and researchers not only to document complications and fatal outcomes, but also to identify potential causative agents and potential ethnic variations to note gaps in research.