Mela GS, Martinoli C, Poggi E, Derchi LE "Radiological research in Europe: a bibliometric study" EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY 13 (4): 657-662 APR 2003

[Eugene Garfield]

L. E. Derchi: derchi at unige.it


TITLE  :  Radiological research in Europe: a bibliometric study
AUTHOR :  Mela GS, Martinoli C, Poggi E, Derchi LE
JOURNAL:  EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY 13 (4): 657-662 APR 2003


 Document type: Article   Language: English
 Cited References: 13     Times Cited: 0

Abstract:
We performed a bibliometric search to evaluate number and scientific
"weight" of papers written by European radiologists, as compared with
colleagues from other countries, to measure the contribution of European
researchers to radiology journals, and to correlate bibliometric parameters
with some socio-economic factors of the different European nations. We
considered all peer-reviewed articles published by radiologists in
biomedical journals quoted by ISI over the 1995-2000 period.
To identify authors as radiologists, the string "radiol" had to appear in
the address of the corresponding author, and his country was considered as
the country of origin of the paper. The definition of Europe included the 15
countries of the European Union, plus Norway and Switzerland. The scientific
"weight" of the paper was assumed to be the impact factor of the journal of
the publication in that given year. Then, we considered the annual indexes
number of papers/population and number of papers/Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in each country. Data were retrieved from the Eurostat annual
statistic reviews. From these bases, we obtained a comparison of the
scientific production among European radiologists, those from the U.S. and
those from the rest of the world. European radiological research is
responsible of almost 40% of the world scientific production in our field,
and Germany, UK and France are the leading publishers in Europe. An increase
of the number of papers written by European radiologists was noted in the
1995-2000 period, whereas the production from the U.S. had a slight
decrease. The mean concentration indexes papers/inhabitants and papers/GDP
were significantly lower in Europe than in the U.S., even if some small
European countries had higher values than the U.S. As a mean, European
research received a lower impact factor than that from the U.S. The
assessment of research output has progressively developed as an important
issue for the scientific research community. Although not flawless, and
often criticized for a variety of reasons, citation analysis is a
commonly used technique in this field, is a frequent means to "weight" the
scientific production of researchers and is one of the criteria used to
assign research grants.

Our study shows that European radiology is growing and its production is
increasing over time, thus indicating strong commitment to research from
European radiologists; however, European radiological research has not yet
reached leadership in the literature, and mean indexes addressing the level
of resources allocated to research are lower in Europe than in the U.S. This
latter point has notable exceptions, but indicates inadequacy of funding, at
least in some nations, and in Europe as a whole. The development of research
programs within the framework of the European Union specifically aimed to
radiology could lead to further advancement of our discipline.

Author Keywords:
European radiology, bibliometry, "impact factor"

KeyWords Plus:
UNION

Addresses:
Derchi LE, Univ Genoa, DICMI, Dept Radiol, Largo R Benzi 8, I-16132 Genoa,
Italy
Univ Genoa, DICMI, Dept Radiol, I-16132 Genoa, Italy
Univ Genoa, DICMI, Dept Internal Med, I-16132 Genoa, Italy

Publisher:
SPRINGER-VERLAG, 175 FIFTH AVE, NEW YORK, NY 10010 USA

IDS Number:
669MH

ISSN:
0938-7994


 Cited Author            Cited Work                Volume      Page    Year
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                       UN STAT YB                                      1998
 *EUR                  RES DEV ANN STAT                       110      1996
 *I SCI INF            SCI SCI CIT IND 1996                            1996
 CHEW FS               AM J ROENTGENOL              150        31      1988
 ESCHELMAN DJ          AM J ROENTGENOL              174        27      2000
 GARFIELD E            SCIENCE                      122       108      1955
 LUUKKONEN T           ANN MED                       22       145      1990
 MELA GS               ANN RHEUM DIS                 57       643      1998
 MELA GS               EUR J CANCER                  35      1182      1999
 ROGERS LF             AM J ROENTGENOL              178       541      2002
 ROGERS LF             AM J ROENTGENOL              177       745      2001
 SCHNYDER P            EUR RADIOL                     9       741      1999
 WHITEHOUSE GH         EUR RADIOL                    12       715      2002