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Gonzalez-Alcaide G, Sosa N, Shevy L, Belinchon-Romero I, Ramos-Rincon JM. Global research on cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis: A bibliometric analysis. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1156834. [PMID: 37113561 PMCID: PMC10126342 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1156834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Cysticercosis is a parasitic infection caused by the larval stage Taenia solium. As a neglected tropical disease that is also difficult to diagnose, cysticercosis constitutes an important public health and research challenge. To characterize the development of research on cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis, considering the level of scientific evidence provided and the contribution of different countries to research, according to their endemic nature and their income level. Methods Indexed publications on cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis were retrieved from the MEDLINE database, and the evolution of scientific production and the topic areas addressed in the body of research were analyzed. Results A total of 7,860 papers published between 1928 and 2021 were analyzed. The volume of annual publications increased over time, standing at over 200 documents/year since 2010. Case studies constitute the main study design (27.4% of the documents with available information, n = 2,155), with fewer studies that provide the highest levels of scientific evidence, such as clinical studies (1.9%, n = 149) or systematic reviews (0.8%, n = 63). The most productive journals belong to the Parasitology and Tropical Medicine categories. Although the USA is the most productive country (n = 2,292), countries where Tenia solium is endemic, such as India (n = 1,749), Brazil (n = 941) and Peru (n = 898) also stand out, as does Mexico (n = 1,414). However, other endemic countries in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa show little participation in the research. The level of international collaboration by country is very uneven, with some countries presenting very low values, such as India (9.9% of documents in international collaboration) or Brazil (18.7%); while there is evidence of intense international collaboration in countries like Peru (91.3%), Tanzania (88.2%) or Kenya (93.1%). Research output has coalesced in three thematic clusters: basic research in animals; parasitism, animal health, and zoonoses; and the diagnosis and therapeutic approach in diseases associated with cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis. Conclusions The generation of knowledge on cysticercosis presents different features from other areas of research, such as the outstanding contribution of only some endemic countries; and the relevance of comprehensive approaches to research (animal and human health). Studies that provide higher levels of scientific evidence should be promoted, as should research in endemic areas.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nestor Sosa
- Infectious Diseases Division, Internal Medicine Department, New Mexico University Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Laura Shevy
- Infectious Diseases Division, Internal Medicine Department, New Mexico University Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Isabel Belinchon-Romero
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Miguel Hernández University, and Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL), Alicante, Spain
| | - Jose-Manuel Ramos-Rincon
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Miguel Hernández University, and Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL), Alicante, Spain
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Ventura-Garcia L. "You will ask me: which am I?": the clinical practice of Chagas as a latent risk. CIENCIA & SAUDE COLETIVA 2022; 27:871-879. [PMID: 35293465 DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232022273.33482020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Drawing on observation-based ethnography, interviews of health personnel and document review, this article describes and examines how, in clinical handling of Chagas disease, infection is treated as latent risk. It suggests that how this risk is managed has enabled a clinical practice to be conducted among people classified as at the indeterminate stage, by adding a dimension of possibility (Is it going to happen?) and potentiality (When and where?). This allows measures to be taken, including administration of medication or permanent monitoring. The reification of latent risk as a phenomenon that is manageable through a process of medicalisation engages, in turn, with other conceptions and specific experiences of risk among the affected groups. Framing the clinical practices deployed to address this risk as objects of study is a first step towards being able to describe and include them concretely in health system organisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laia Ventura-Garcia
- Medical Anthropology Research Center, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Av. da Catalunya 35. 43002 Tarragona Espanha.
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Abstract
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.
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González-Alcaide G, Salinas A, Ramos JM. Scientometrics analysis of research activity and collaboration patterns in Chagas cardiomyopathy. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018; 12:e0006602. [PMID: 29912873 PMCID: PMC6023249 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 06/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Chagas cardiomyopathy is a serious and common complication of Chagas disease. Methods Through bibliometric and Social Network Analysis, we examined patterns of research on Chagas cardiomyopathy, identifying the main countries, authors, research clusters, and topics addressed; and measuring the contribution of different countries. Results We found 1932 documents on Chagas cardiomyopathy in the MEDLINE database. The most common document type was ‘journal article’, accounting for 79.6% of the total (n = 1538), followed by ‘review’ (n = 217, 11.2%). The number of published records increased from 156 in 1980–1984 to 311 in 2010–2014. Only 2.5% were clinical trials. Brazil and the USA dominated the research, participating in 53.1% and 25.7%, respectively, of the documents. Other Latin American countries where Chagas is endemic contributed less, with Bolivia, where Chagas disease is most prevalent, producing only 1.8% of the papers. We observed a high rate of domestic collaboration (83.1% of the documents published in 2010–2016) and a lower but significant rate of international collaboration (32.5% in the same time period). Although clinical research dominated overall, the USA, Mexico and several countries in Europe produced a considerable body of basic research on animal models. We identified four main research clusters, focused on heart failure and dysfunction (physical symptoms, imaging techniques, treatment), and on myocarditis and parasitemia in animal models. Conclusions Research on Chagas cardiomyopathy increased over the study period. There were more clinical than basic studies, though very few of the documents were clinical trials. Brazil and the USA are currently leading the research on this subject, while some highly endemic countries, such as Bolivia, have contributed very little. Different approaches could help to redress this imbalance: encouraging researchers to conduct more clinical trials, launching international collaborations to help endemic countries contribute more, and strengthening links between basic and clinical research. Scientific production on Chagas cardiomyopathy has grown considerably since the turn of the 21st century, probably reflecting the increased incidence of Chagas disease in non-endemic areas like the USA and Europe. Brazil and the USA dominate the research, but we found a very small proportion of clinical trials on Chagas cardiomyopathy and a low scientific production in several endemic countries with a high prevalence of the disease such as Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Bolivia. We observed a polarity between endemic and non-endemic countries where clinical research and basic research predominate, respectively. Different approaches could help to redress the observed imbalance of research on Chagas cardiomyopathy: encouraging researchers to conduct more clinical trials, launching international collaborations to help endemic countries contribute more, and strengthening links between basic and clinical research. It is crucial to foster translational research in order to link basic knowledge on the physiology of the disease with clinical applications in diagnosis and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregorio González-Alcaide
- Department of History of Science and Documentation, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | | | - José M. Ramos
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
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Palmblad M, Torvik VI. Spatiotemporal analysis of tropical disease research combining Europe PMC and affiliation mapping web services. Trop Med Health 2017; 45:33. [PMID: 29093641 PMCID: PMC5658975 DOI: 10.1186/s41182-017-0073-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Tropical medicine appeared as a distinct sub-discipline in the late nineteenth century, during a period of rapid European colonial expansion in Africa and Asia. After a dramatic drop after World War II, research on tropical diseases have received more attention and research funding in the twenty-first century. Methods We used Apache Taverna to integrate Europe PMC and MapAffil web services, containing the spatiotemporal analysis workflow from a list of PubMed queries to a list of publication years and author affiliations geoparsed to latitudes and longitudes. The results could then be visualized in the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS). Results Our workflows automatically matched 253,277 affiliations to geographical coordinates for the first authors of 379,728 papers on tropical diseases in a single execution. The bibliometric analyses show how research output in tropical diseases follow major historical shifts in the twentieth century and renewed interest in and funding for tropical disease research in the twenty-first century. They show the effects of disease outbreaks, WHO eradication programs, vaccine developments, wars, refugee migrations, and peace treaties. Conclusions Literature search and geoparsing web services can be combined in scientific workflows performing a complete spatiotemporal bibliometric analyses of research in tropical medicine. The workflows and datasets are freely available and can be used to reproduce or refine the analyses and test specific hypotheses or look into particular diseases or geographic regions. This work exceeds all previously published bibliometric analyses on tropical diseases in both scale and spatiotemporal range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magnus Palmblad
- Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Vetle I Torvik
- School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL USA
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González-Alcaide G, Park J, Huamaní C, Ramos JM. Dominance and leadership in research activities: Collaboration between countries of differing human development is reflected through authorship order and designation as corresponding authors in scientific publications. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0182513. [PMID: 28792519 PMCID: PMC5549749 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2017] [Accepted: 07/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Scientific collaboration is an important mechanism that enables the integration of the least developed countries into research activities. In the present study, we use the order of author signatures and addresses for correspondence in scientific publications as variables to analyze the interactions between countries of very high (VHHD), high (HHD), medium (MHD), and low human development (LHD). Methodology We identified all documents published between 2011 and 2015 in journals included in the Science Citation Index-Expanded categories’ of Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Parasitology, and Pediatrics. We then classified the countries participating in the publications according to their Human Development Index (HDI), analyzing the international collaboration; positioning and influence of some countries over others in cooperative networks; their leadership; and the impact of the work based on the HDI and the type of collaboration. Results We observed a high degree of international collaboration in all the areas analyzed, in the case of both LHD and MHD countries. We identified numerous cooperative links between VHHD countries and MHD/LHD countries, reflecting the fact that cooperative links are an important mechanism for integrating research activities into the latter. The countries with large emerging economies, such as Brazil and China stand out due to the dominance they exert in the collaborations established with the United States, the UK, and other European countries. The analysis of the leadership role of the countries, measured by the frequency of lead authorships, shows limited participation by MHD/LHD countries. This reduced participation among less developed countries is further accentuated by their limited presence in the addresses for correspondence. We observed significant statistical differences in the degree of citation according to the HDI of the participating countries. Conclusions The order of signatures and the address for correspondence in scientific publications are bibliographic characteristics that facilitate a precise, in-depth analysis of cooperative practices and their associations with concepts like dominance or leadership. This is useful to monitor the existing balance in research participation in health research publications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregorio González-Alcaide
- Department of History of Science and Documentation, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Jinseo Park
- Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Charles Huamaní
- Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara, La Victoria, Perú
| | - José M. Ramos
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Miguel Hernández University of Elche de Elche, Alicante, Spain
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
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González-Alcaide G, Ramos JM, Huamaní C, Mendoza CD, Soriano V. HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS 1 (HTLV-1) AND HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS 2 (HTLV-2): GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH TRENDS AND COLLABORATION NETWORKS (1989-2012). Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 2016; 58:11. [PMID: 26910450 PMCID: PMC4793952 DOI: 10.1590/s1678-9946201658011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2015] [Accepted: 04/16/2015] [Indexed: 02/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Publications are often used as a measure of research work success. Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type 1 and 2 are human retroviruses, which were discovered in the early 1980s, and it is estimated that 15-20 million people are infected worldwide. This article describes a bibliometric review and a coauthorship network analysis of literature on HTLV indexed in PubMed in a 24-year period. A total of 7,564 documents were retrieved, showing a decrease in the number of documents from 1996 to 2007. HTLV manuscripts were published in 1,074 journals. Japan and USA were the countries with the highest contribution in this field (61%) followed by France (8%). Production ranking changed when the number of publications was normalized by population (Dominican Republic and Japan), by gross domestic product (Guinea-Bissau and Gambia), and by gross national income per capita (Brazil and Japan). The present study has shed light on some of the defining features of scientific collaboration performed by HTLV research community, such as the existence of core researchers responsible for articulating the development of research in the area, facilitating wider collaborative relationships and the integration of new authors in the research groups.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - José Manuel Ramos
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain,
| | | | - Carmen de Mendoza
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain, ,
| | - Vicent Soriano
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain, ,
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Carbajal-de-la-Fuente AL, Yadón ZE. A scientometric evaluation of the Chagas disease implementation research programme of the PAHO and TDR. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2013; 7:e2445. [PMID: 24244761 PMCID: PMC3820726 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) is an independent global programme of scientific collaboration cosponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. TDR's strategy is based on stewardship for research on infectious diseases of poverty, empowerment of endemic countries, research on neglected priority needs, and the promotion of scientific collaboration influencing global efforts to combat major tropical diseases. In 2001, in view of the achievements obtained in the reduction of transmission of Chagas disease through the Southern Cone Initiative and the improvement in Chagas disease control activities in some countries of the Andean and the Central American Initiatives, TDR transferred the Chagas Disease Implementation Research Programme (CIRP) to the Communicable Diseases Unit of the Pan American Health Organization (CD/PAHO). This paper presents a scientometric evaluation of the 73 projects from 18 Latin American and European countries that were granted by CIRP/PAHO/TDR between 1997 and 2007. We analyzed all final reports of the funded projects and scientific publications, technical reports, and human resource training activities derived from them. Results about the number of projects funded, countries and institutions involved, gender analysis, number of published papers in indexed scientific journals, main topics funded, patents inscribed, and triatomine species studied are presented and discussed. The results indicate that CIRP/PAHO/TDR initiative has contributed significantly, over the 1997–2007 period, to Chagas disease knowledge as well as to the individual and institutional-building capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Laura Carbajal-de-la-Fuente
- Leishmaniasis Transmitters Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratory of Eco-Epidemiology, Department of Ecology, Genetics and Evolution, (IEGEBA-CONICET) University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Zaida E. Yadón
- Communicable Diseases Unit, Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, D.C., United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Ventura-Garcia L, Roura M, Pell C, Posada E, Gascón J, Aldasoro E, Muñoz J, Pool R. Socio-cultural aspects of Chagas disease: a systematic review of qualitative research. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2013; 7:e2410. [PMID: 24069473 PMCID: PMC3772024 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2013] [Accepted: 07/17/2013] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Globally, more than 10 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes about 20 000 annual deaths. Although Chagas disease is endemic to certain regions of Latin America, migratory flows have enabled its expansion into areas where it was previously unknown. Economic, social and cultural factors play a significant role in its presence and perpetuation. This systematic review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of qualitative research on Chagas disease, both in endemic and non-endemic countries. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Searches were carried out in ten databases, and the bibliographies of retrieved studies were examined. Data from thirty-three identified studies were extracted, and findings were analyzed and synthesized along key themes. Themes identified for endemic countries included: socio-structural determinants of Chagas disease; health practices; biomedical conceptions of Chagas disease; patient's experience; and institutional strategies adopted. Concerning non-endemic countries, identified issues related to access to health services and health seeking. CONCLUSIONS The emergence and perpetuation of Chagas disease depends largely on socio-cultural aspects influencing health. As most interventions do not address the clinical, environmental, social and cultural aspects jointly, an explicitly multidimensional approach, incorporating the experiences of those affected is a potential tool for the development of long-term successful programs. Further research is needed to evaluate this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laia Ventura-Garcia
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Roura
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christopher Pell
- Centre for Social Science and Global Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Elisabeth Posada
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joaquim Gascón
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Edelweis Aldasoro
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose Muñoz
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Robert Pool
- Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
- Centre for Social Science and Global Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Ramos JM, González-Alcaide G, Bolaños-Pizarro M. Bibliometric analysis of leishmaniasis research in Medline (1945-2010). Parasit Vectors 2013; 6:55. [PMID: 23497410 PMCID: PMC3602049 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-55] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2012] [Accepted: 02/20/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Publications are often used as a measure of success of research work. Leishmaniasis is considered endemic in 98 countries, most of which are developing. This article describes a bibliometric review of the literature on leishmaniasis research indexed in PubMed during a 66-year period. Methods Medline was used via the PubMed online service of the US National Library of Medicine. The search strategy was Leishmania [MeSH] or leishmaniasis [MeSH] from 1 January 1945 until 31 December 2010. Neither language nor document type restrictions were employed. Results A total of 20,780 references were retrieved. The number of publications increased steadily over time, with 3,380 publications from 1945-1980 to 8,267 from 2001-2010. Leishmaniasis documents were published in 1,846 scientific journals, and Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (4.9%) was the top one. The USA was the predominant country by considering the first author’s institutional address (16.8%), followed by Brazil (14.9%), and then India (9.0%), however Brazil leads the scientific output in 2001-2010 period (18.5%), followed by the USA (13.5%) and India (10%). The production ranking changed when the number of publications was normalised by population (Israel and Switzerland), by gross domestic product (Nepal and Tunisia), and by gross national income per capita (India and Ethiopia). For geographical area, Europe led (31.7%), followed by Latin America (24.5%). Conclusions We have found an increase in the number of publications in the field of leishmaniasis. The USA and Brazil led scientific production on leishmaniasis research.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M Ramos
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
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González-Alcaide G, Park J, Huamaní C, Gascón J, Ramos JM. Scientific authorships and collaboration network analysis on Chagas disease: papers indexed in PubMed (1940-2009). Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 2012; 54:219-28. [PMID: 22850995 DOI: 10.1590/s0036-46652012000400007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2012] [Accepted: 04/10/2012] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is a chronic, tropical, parasitic disease, endemic throughout Latin America. The large-scale migration of populations has increased the geographic distribution of the disease and cases have been observed in many other countries around the world. To strengthen the critical mass of knowledge generated in different countries, it is essential to promote cooperative and translational research initiatives. We analyzed authorship of scientific documents on Chagas disease indexed in the Medline database from 1940 to 2009. Bibliometrics was used to analyze the evolution of collaboration patterns. A Social Network Analysis was carried out to identify the main research groups in the area by applying clustering methods. We then analyzed 13,989 papers produced by 21,350 authors. Collaboration among authors dramatically increased over the study period, reaching an average of 6.2 authors per paper in the last five-year period. Applying a threshold of collaboration of five or more papers signed in co-authorship, we identified 148 consolidated research groups made up of 1,750 authors. The Chagas disease network identified constitutes a "small world," characterized by a high degree of clustering and a notably high number of Brazilian researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregorio González-Alcaide
- Department of History of Science and Documentation Department, Universidad de Valencia, 15 Blasco Ibáñez Avenue, Valencia, Spain.
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