Uthman, OA (Uthman, Olalekan A.) HIV/AIDS in Nigeria: A bibliometric analysis BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES, 8: Art. No. 3 FEB 26 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2334-8-19.pdf

E-mail Address: uthlekan at yahoo.com 

Author(s): Uthman, OA (Uthman, Olalekan A.) 

Title: HIV/AIDS in Nigeria: A bibliometric analysis 

Source: BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES, 8: Art. No. 3 FEB 26 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Letter 

Keywords Plus: EUROPEAN-UNION; AIDS 

Abstract: Background: Nigeria is home to more people living with HIV than 
any other country in the world, except South Africa and India- where an 
estimated 2.9 million [ 1.7 million - 4.2 million] people were living with 
the virus in 2005. A systematic assessment of recent HIV/ AIDS research 
output from Nigeria is not available. Without objective information about 
the current deficiencies and strengths in the HIV research output from 
Nigeria, it is difficult to plan substantial improvements in HIV/ AIDS 
research that could enhance population health. The aim of this study was 
to analyse the trends in Nigeria's SCI publications in HIV/ AIDS from 1980 
to 2006. Special attention was paid to internationally collaborated works 
that were identified based on the countries of the authors' affiliation.

Methods: A bibliometric analysis regarding Nigeria HIV/ AIDS research was 
conducted in the ISI databases for the period of 1980 to 2006. An attempt 
was made to identify the patterns of the growth in HIV/ AIDS literature, 
as well as type of document published, authorship, institutional 
affiliations of authors, and subject content. International collaboration 
was deemed to exist in an article if any co- author's affiliation was 
located outside Nigeria. The impact factors in the 2006 Journal Citations 
Reports Science Edition was arbitrarily adopted to estimate the quality of 
articles.
Results: Nigeria's ISI publications in HIV/ AIDS increased from one 
articles in 1987 to 33 in 2006, and the articles with international 
collaboration increased from one articles in 1980 to 16 in 2006. Articles 
with international collaboration appeared in journals with higher impact 
factors and received more citations. A high pattern of co- authorship was 
found. Over 85% of the articles were published in collaboration among two 
or more authors. The USA, as the most important collaborating partner of 
Nigeria's HIV/ AIDS researchers, contributed 30.8% of articles with 
international collaboration.

Conclusion: Nigeria has achieved a significant increase in the number of 
SCI publications and collaborations in HIV literature from 1987 to 2005. 
There is need to challenge the status, scientists from Nigeria should 
forge multiple collaborations beyond historical, political, and cultural 
lines to share knowledge and expertise on HIV/ AIDS. 

E-mail Address: uthlekan at yahoo.com 

Cited Reference Count: 18 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: BIOMED CENTRAL LTD 

Publisher Address: CURRENT SCIENCE GROUP, MIDDLESEX HOUSE, 34-42 CLEVELAND 
ST, LONDON W1T 4LB, ENGLAND 

ISSN: 1471-2334 

29-char Source Abbrev.: BMC INFECT DIS 

ISO Source Abbrev.: BMC Infect. Dis. 

Source Item Page Count: 7 

Subject Category: Infectious Diseases 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 276MJ 

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