Bliziotis IA, Paraschakis K, Vergidis PI, Karavasiou AI, "Worldwide trends in quantity and quality of published articles in the field of infectious diseases" BMC Infectious Diseases 5: Art. No. 16 MAR 21 2005

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Addresses:


Bliziotis :   j.bliziotis at alfahc.gr
Paraschakis:  s6990054 at yahoo.com
Vergidis   :  pvergidis at hotmail.com
Karavasiou :  a.karavasiou at alfahc.gr
Falagas    :  matthew.falagas at tufts.edu

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Title: Worldwide trends in quantity and quality of published articles in the
field of infectious diseases

Author(s): Bliziotis IA, Paraschakis K, Vergidis PI, Karavasiou AI,
Falagas ME

Source: BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES 5: Art. No. 16 MAR 21 2005

Document Type: Article    Language: English
Cited References: 22      Times Cited: 0

Abstract:
Background: Trying to confront with the widespread burden of infectious
diseases, the society worldwide invests considerably on research. We
evaluated the contribution of different world regions in research production
in Infectious Diseases.

Methods: Using the online Pubmed database we retrieved articles from 38
journals included in the "Infectious Diseases" category of the "Journal
Citation Reports" database of the Institute for Scientific Information for
the period 1995 - 2002. The world was divided into 9 regions based on
geographic, economic and scientific criteria. Using an elaborate retrieval
system we obtained data on published articles from different world regions.
In our evaluation we introduced an estimate of both quantity and quality of
research produced from each world region per year using: ( 1) the total
number of publications, ( 2) the mean impact factor of publications, and (
3) the product of the above two parameters.

Results: Data on the country of origin of the research was available for
45,232 out of 45,922 retrieved articles (98.5 %). USA and Western Europe are
by far the most productive regions concerning publications of research
articles. However, the rate of increase in the production of articles was
higher in Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia
during the study period. The mean impact factor is highest for articles
originating in the USA (3.42), while it was 2.82 for Western Europe and 2.73
for the rest of the world ( 7 regions combined).

Conclusion: USA and Western Europe make up a striking 80% of the world's
research production in Infectious Diseases in terms of both quantity and
quality. However, all world regions achieved a gradual increase in the
production of Infectious Diseases articles, with the regions ranking lower
at present displaying the highest rate of increase.

Addresses: Falagas ME (reprint author), Alfa Inst Biomed Sci, Athens, Greece
Alfa Inst Biomed Sci, Athens, Greece
Tufts Univ, Sch Med, Dept Med, Boston, MA 02111 USA

E-mail Addresses: j.bliziotis at alfahc.gr, s6990054 at yahoo.com,
pvergidis at hotmail.com, a.karavasiou at alfahc.gr, matthew.falagas at tufts.edu

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IDS Number: 914PA
ISSN: 1471-2334


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