Contribution of Health Researches in National Knowledge Production: A Scientometrics Study on 15-Year Research Products of Iran

A Scoping Review of Highly Cited Published Articles in the Iranian Endodontic Journal: A Reflection of Trends in Endodontic Research

Introduction

Highly cited published articles play a critical role in shaping clinical practice, research directions, and advancements in a specific field of science. The current comprehensive scoping review aimed to provide an overview of highly cited articles published in the "Iranian Endodontic Journal" (IEJ), based on the IEJ's H-index (=29); highlighting their key findings and prominent implications in the field of endodontics.

Materials and Methods

A systematic search was conducted in Scopus database to identify the top 29 highly cited published articles. The articles were selected based on their citation count (h-index); reflecting their impact and influence within the scientific community. Data extraction was performed to gather relevant information; including authors, titles, publication years, and the main topic(s) of each article.

Results

The selected highly cited published articles covered a broad range of endodontic topics; demonstrating the diversity and depth of research in the field. Key findings include significant contributions in vital pulp therapy, antimicrobial agents, root canal disinfection, regenerative techniques, cone-beam computed tomography applications, and intracanal medicaments. The distribution of research areas reflects the importance of evidence-based practice in clinical decision-making and patient care.

Conclusions

These highly cited published articles have shown to have substantial impact on the field of endodontics. They have influenced clinical practice, guided research directions, and have improved patient care. The summary of key findings from each topic and the number of articles related to each area can provide readers with valuable insights into the distribution of research areas, and the significance of contributions made by the aforementioned highly cited published articles.

Contribution of Iranian researchers in Alzheimer's disease research: A 10 years scientometric analysis

Background

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and is a rising issue for global health. Iran is struggling with a growing number of the elderly population and also a decrease in fertility rate. The goal of this study was to review and evaluate Alzheimer's disease publications by Iranian researchers.

Methods

We searched for Alzheimer and all its related keywords in the Web of Science to find related documents published by Iranian researchers from 2010 until 2019. Bibliometric parameters at the level of documents, authors, and organizations were assessed. The co-authorship matrix was computed using Bibexcel, and visualizations were performed by VOSviewer.

Results

Totally, 1042 documents from 4949 researchers (8.6 authors per document) were retrieved from Web of Science. Original articles (77.06%) and reviews (16.21%) were the most common document types for Iranian publications and also one article was retracted. As results, the average citation per document was 20.68. Iranian researchers mainly collaborated with researchers from the United States, Italy, Australia, and Canada, respectively. The co-occurrence networks for keywords represented five publication clusters in the collection. The largest cluster was related to studies on oxidative stress in Alzheimer's Disease, followed by in-vivo studies in the field of brain neurons destruction.

Conclusion

We found that Iranian researchers made significant impacts in the field of Alzheimer's disease and covered a wide range of related areas over the last 10 years.

Obesity researches in youth: A scientometrics study in Middle East countries

Background

The alarming trends of obesity/overweight in youth have been interested policy makers and other stakeholders to exact follow and analysis of related scientific evidence. The present paper quantify the trends of outputs of youth obesity/overweight researches in Middle East countries.

Materials and Methods

The Scopus database systematically searched as the most comprehensive multidisciplinary database, for all related obesity/overweight that focused on youth age groups concerns, from 2000 to 2017. These scientometrics analysis included the trends of scientific products, citations, and other scientometric index in Middle East countries.

Results

During 2000-2017, in the field of youth obesity, 2350 papers published (0.40% of total 591,105 indexed paper of this region) by Middle East countries. In this regard, Iran with 574 publication (24.43%) had the first rank. After that Turkey and Saudi Arabia, respectively, with 489 (20.81%) and 313 (13.32%) papers, had the next ranks. Over 18-year period, based on the findings all of Eastern Mediterranean countries follow the progressive plans for topics related to youth obesity. Between them, Iran and Turkey have significant growth rates (0.77% and 0.40%, respectively). Scientometric indicators such as "number of published papers," "number of citations" confirmed that during the 2000-2017 the P-trends of total number of related published papers and the correspond citations, in region countries, were significant (2168 papers and 34,132 citations, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Most of countries at global and regional levels follow ascending trends in publications and citations in obesity/overweight fields. Iran's position has grown significantly among them. Maintaining and promoting this position requires careful planning and special attention. The findings also could be used for better health policy and complementary researches.

The Trend of Scientific Productions on the Use of Herbal Medicines in Metabolic Disorders in the Middle East Countries

Context: Prevalence of metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), dyslipidemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and osteoporosis has been increased. Herbal medicine is an accessible, safe, and low-cost option in managing and caring for metabolic disorders. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of global scientific productions in herbal medications and metabolic disorders in the Middle East countries. Study Selection: Our search terms were “diabetes”, “dyslipidemia”, “obesity”, “osteoporosis”, “metabolic syndrome”, “herb”, and “herbal medicine” in Middle East countries through the Scopus database until January 2020. We analyzed the data regarding publication year, main journal, geographical distribution, document type, subject area, co-authorship network, the h-index of citations by Scopus analysis tools, Visualizing Scientific Landscapes (VOSviewer) version 1.6.4, and SPSS version 15. Results: Among 6408 global publications, most of the papers (> 85%) were original articles, and mostly (44.26%) were about dyslipidemia. A significant time-trend was shown in the number of documents (P < 0.001), mostly in 2019. Medicine and pharmacology were subject areas in > 80% of papers. The top country in the global publication number was Iran. The highest cited papers in dyslipidemia, obesity and osteoporosis were original articles from Turkey and Egypt, but in T2DM and MetS the highest cited paper was a review article from Iran. The top sources were “Phytotherapy Research” and “the Journal of Ethnopharmacology”. The top institutes were from Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia and the principal author in the co-authorship network assessment was from Iran. Conclusions: The time-trend growth in producing scholarly papers in the studied disorders is appreciated, but more evidence-based articles are still needed.

Visualization of knowledge flow in interpersonal scientific collaboration network endocrinology and metabolism research institute

Purpose

Research collaborations can help to increase scientific productivity. The purpose of the present study was to draw up the knowledge flow network of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute (EMRI) affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Methods

The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study on the publications of the EMRI. Web of Science Core collection databases were searched for the EMRI publications between 2002 to November 2019. Besides, publications were classified and visualized based on authorships (institutes and country of affiliation), and keywords (co-occurrence and trend). Scientometric methods including VOSviewer and HistCite were used for descriptive statistics and data analysis.

Results

Total citations to the records were 47,528 and papers were published in 916 journals. The annual growth rate of publications and the citation was 14.2% and 18.9%, respectively. A total of 9466 authors from 136 countries collaborated in the publications. The co-authorship patterns showed that the average co-authorship and collaboration coefficient was 3.3 and 0.19.

Conclusion

Knowledge flow between EMRI researchers with international collaborations, engagement with leading countries, and interdisciplinary collaborations have an increasing trend. To develop a full picture of co-authorship, using social network analysis indicators are suggested for future studies.

Knowledge production in Iranian social determinants of health research centers: Toward health equity

Background: As the partner country of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (SDH), Iran has expanded the knowledge based on the social determinants of health- as one of commission recommendations- by establishing SDH research centers to collect evidence and design responses to the existing health equity gap. Considering the importance of the role assigned to these research centers, this study aimed to present the knowledge production of SDH research centers and determine their status in Iran's health research system (HRS). Methods: In this cross sectional study, research performance of SDH research centers was assessed based on international research indicators and compared with national medical research centers and HRS knowledge production. Then, SDH research centers were scored and ranked based on the research indicators. Results: Out of 37 approved SDH research centers, the knowledge performance of 33 research centers was reviewed. The total number of academic members was 334. The number of these centers' indexed published articles and the proportion of published articles per academic member have been doubled from 483 and 1.44 in 2015 to 984 and 2.94 in 2017. In this period, the number of citations of the past 5-year publications was 4355 according to Scopus database. The proportions of these centers' high-quality publication (Q1) and international collaborations per published articles were 14.8 and 8.25. In ranking, the first to third ranks were occupied by SDH research centers of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and Qazvin Universities of Medical Sciences. Conclusion: Although knowledge production seems desirable in mentioned research centers, it is essential to create a virtual research network to increase intersectoral collaboration and develop strategies to solve the puzzle of gathering evidence on the social determinants affecting health inequities.

Development of Evaluation System for Iranian Health Research Networks: Challenges and Lessons Learned

BACKGROUND

Health research networks (HRNs) are critical components of large-scale systems of production and validation of scientific evidence. As evaluation of research systems is a reliable process to measure efficiency and effectiveness of their activities, we aimed to report the processes of development of evaluation indicators' for Iranian health research networks and the results of conducted assessment.

METHODS

In 2017, for the first time, aim to develop the evaluation framework for national HRNs, following the qualitative approach to assess the quality of research we designed the peer review method as one of the most important tools. This qualitative method was conducted according to experts' views in specific fields. Key policy makers and stakeholders collaboratively developed a number of criteria for evaluation of research performance of Iranian HRNs. Following the review of conducted studies, benefitting from published guide line, these indicators were defined under 4 main axes of governance and leadership; infrastructures; research products and research impact.

RESULTS

Based on requirements of developed protocol for evaluation of HRNs in Iran, 18 HRNs completed the processes of evaluation. Results show a progressive need for more attention to precise planning of HRNs for achieving to goals. Another point to consider is the attention to documenting processes. The observational system for researches for detection of latest research priority was the most important issues that need to be more addressed by all of networks.

CONCLUSION

Research evaluation of Iranian HRNs more over creating of constructive positive competition provide an overview of the shortcomings and research challenges could be used for better planning and promotion of the health research system.