Exploring research on ecotechnology through artificial intelligence and bibliometric maps

Ecotechnology, quintessential for crafting sustainable socio-environmental strategies, remains tantalizingly uncharted. Our analysis, steered by the nuances of machine learning and augmented by bibliometric insights, delineates the expansive terrain of this domain, elucidates pivotal research themes and conundrums, and discerns the vanguard nations in this field. Furthermore, we deftly connect our discoveries to the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, thereby accentuating the profound societal ramifications of ecotechnology.

Cuban Scientific Production on Diabetes, 2000-2017: Peer-reviewed Publications, Collaboration and Impact

INTRODUCTION The steadily increasing prevalence of diabetes globally has captured researchers' attention. Cuban production of scientific articles on diabetes has not been studied from a bibliometric perspective. OBJECTIVE Characterize the production and impact of research and review articles on diabetes by Cuban authors in journals listed in the Scopus bibliographic database, as well as related collaboration among Cuban institutions and between Cuban and non-Cuban institutions. METHODS A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 2000-2017 data from the Scopus database. The following search strategy was used: descriptor (diabetes), country (Cuba), publication source (journal), article type (original research, review article). Bibliographic indicators of production, visibility, impact and collaboration were examined. RESULTS Cuba contributed 3.2% of Latin American production and 0.1% of global production related to diabetes. Within Cuba's scientific production (610 articles, 538 original research and 72 review), 85.9% had a Cuban corresponding author (Cuban leadership). In articles with international collaboration (22.9%), however, most (67.9%) had non-Cuban corresponding authors. A total of 47% (287) were articles involving a single institution. Only 11.1% were published in top-ranked journals, and 14.4% were cited >10 times. Cubans were lead authors on 0.3% of the most frequently cited (top 10%) articles on diabetes in Scopus. A total of 38.4% of this production appeared in low-impact journals and 57.9% in Cuban journals. Articles published in English accounted for 30% of total and obtained higher impact in terms of citations than articles in Spanish. The strongest networks for scientific collaboration were those that connected Cuban and US researchers. CONCLUSIONS Cuban scientists conduct research on diabetes, but their work is not highly visible in the peer-reviewed literature, particularly in top-ranked journals. The problem is not simply one of publishing more, but of knowing how and where to publish. It is urgent that Cuban universities training health professionals at all levels include instruction on scientific writing.

El lado oscuro de Internet: un estudio bibliométrico de la literatura sobre comportamientos adictivos en línea

El presente estudio bibliométrico caracterizó la investigación sobre problemas médicos derivados del uso excesivo o inadecuado de Internet durante el período 2011-2017. Se identificaron en PubMed 1.178 artículos sobre conductas adictivas, que constituyeron el 2,7 % de la literatura biomédica mundial sobre Internet, y el 22,3 % de los trabajos que tienen a Internet como tópico principal. Se analizó el comportamiento anual de la producción científica, se identificaron las revistas y autores más productivos, y se determinaron los principales frentes de investigación a partir de técnicas bibliométricas. La adicción a los juegos en línea y la ciberpornografía, las alteraciones cognitivas asociadas a la adicción a Internet, y el sobreuso de teléfonos inteligentes y redes sociales, constituyen crecientes problemáticas identificadas en la literatura. Es indispensable el desarrollo de políticas públicas que estimulen el aprovechamiento de las ventajas de Internet y minimicen los riesgos de conductas patológicas en niños y adolescentes.

Worldwide inequality in access to full text scientific articles: the example of ophthalmology

Background

The problem of access to medical information, particularly in low-income countries, has been under discussion for many years. Although a number of developments have occurred in the last decade (e.g., the open access (OA) movement and the website Sci-Hub), everyone agrees that these difficulties still persist very widely, mainly due to the fact that paywalls still limit access to approximately 75% of scholarly documents. In this study, we compare the accessibility of recent full text articles in the field of ophthalmology in 27 established institutions located worldwide.

Methods

A total of 200 references from articles were retrieved using the PubMed database. Each article was individually checked for OA. Full texts of non-OA (i.e., “paywalled articles”) were examined to determine whether they were available using institutional and Hinari access in each institution studied, using “alternative ways” (i.e., PubMed Central, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, and Online Reprint Request), and using the website Sci-Hub.

Results

The number of full texts of “paywalled articles” available using institutional and Hinari access showed strong heterogeneity, scattered between 0% full texts to 94.8% (mean = 46.8%; SD = 31.5; median = 51.3%). We found that complementary use of “alternative ways” and Sci-Hub leads to 95.5% of full text “paywalled articles,” and also divides by 14 the average extra costs needed to obtain all full texts on publishers’ websites using pay-per-view.

Conclusions

The scant number of available full text “paywalled articles” in most institutions studied encourages researchers in the field of ophthalmology to use Sci-Hub to search for scientific information. The scientific community and decision-makers must unite and strengthen their efforts to find solutions to improve access to scientific literature worldwide and avoid an implosion of the scientific publishing model. This study is not an endorsement for using Sci-Hub. The authors, their institutions, and publishers accept no responsibility on behalf of readers.

[Productivity and visibility of Cuban neuroscientists: bibliometric study of the period 2001-2005]

INTRODUCTION

Neurosciences have an important place inside the scientific development of Ibero American countries, and particularly in Cuba. The objective of the current work is to analyze the productivity and visibility of Cuban neuroscientists in the period 2001-2005, and the value of H index as evaluation tool.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Web of Science and Scopus were the databases used as information sources. The 24 Cuban neuroscientists in Web of Science were identified, and their scientific production in Scopus was retrieved. For each author, in each database, the following indicators were calculated: total number of published authors, total number of cited articles, proportion of cited articles, total number of citations received, average of citations received by article, and H index.

RESULTS

Some variations in the calculated indicators were observed in Scopus with respect to Web of Science. The wide coverage of this database exerted influence on the increment of scientist's productivity, as well as on the increment of H index values.

CONCLUSIONS

The possible incorporation of citation analysis, as well as other indicators derived, in the processes of evaluation and analysis of the scientific activity was considered, in order to evaluate the advances in the Neurosciences field.

Comparison of SCImago journal rank indicator with journal impact factor

The application of currently available sophisticated algorithms of citation analysis allows for the incorporation of the "quality" of citations in the evaluation of scientific journals. We sought to compare the newly introduced SCImago journal rank (SJR) indicator with the journal impact factor (IF). We retrieved relevant information from the official Web sites hosting the above indices and their source databases. The SJR indicator is an open-access resource, while the journal IF requires paid subscription. The SJR indicator (based on Scopus data) lists considerably more journal titles published in a wider variety of countries and languages, than the journal IF (based on Web of Science data). Both indices divide citations to a journal by articles of the journal, during a specific time period. However, contrary to the journal IF, the SJR indicator attributes different weight to citations depending on the "prestige" of the citing journal without the influence of journal self-citations; prestige is estimated with the application of the PageRank algorithm in the network of journals. In addition, the SJR indicator includes the total number of documents of a journal in the denominator of the relevant calculation, whereas the journal IF includes only "citable" articles (mainly original articles and reviews). A 3-yr period is analyzed in both indices but with the use of different approaches. Regarding the top 100 journals in the 2006 journal IF ranking order, the median absolute change in their ranking position with the use of the SJR indicator is 32 (1st quartile: 12; 3rd quartile: 75). Although further validation is warranted, the novel SJR indicator poses as a serious alternative to the well-established journal IF, mainly due to its open-access nature, larger source database, and assessment of the quality of citations.