Falagas, ME; Karavasiou, AI; Bliziotis, IA A bibliometric analysis of global trends of research productivity in tropical medicine ACTA TROPICA, 99 (2-3): 155-159 OCT 2006

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: m.falagas at aibs.gr 

Author(s): Falagas, ME (Falagas, Matthew E.); Karavasiou, AI (Karavasiou, 
Antonia I.); Bliziotis, IA (Bliziotis, Ioannis A.) 

Title: A bibliometric analysis of global trends of research productivity 
in tropical medicine 

Source: ACTA TROPICA, 99 (2-3): 155-159 OCT 2006 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Author Keywords: tropical medicine literature; 10 : 90 gap; International 
representation; bibliometrics; impact factor; research and development; 
research collaboration 

Keywords Plus: PUBLICATION; COUNTRIES; ARTICLES; DISEASES; SCIENCE; 
INDEXES; WORLD 

Abstract: The field of tropical medicine has a long history due to the 
significance of the relevant diseases for the humanity. We estimated the 
contribution of different world regions to research published in the main 
journals of tropical medicine. Using the PubMed and the Institute for 
Scientific Information (ISI) "Web of Science" databases, we retrieved 
articles from 12 journals included in the "Tropical Medicine" category of 
the "Journal Citation Reports" database of ISI for the period 1995-2003. 
Data on the country of origin of the research were available for 11,860 
articles in PubMed (98.1 % of all articles from the tropical medicine 
category). The contribution of different world regions during the studied 
period, as estimated by the location of the affiliation of the first 
author, was: Western Europe 22.7%, Africa 20.9%, Latin America and the 
Caribbean 20.7%, Asia (excluding Japan) 19.8%, USA 10.6%, Oceania 2.1%, 
Japan 1.5%, Eastern Europe 1.3%, and Canada 0.6%. The contribution of 
regions, estimated by the location of the affiliation of at least one 
author of the published papers (retrieved from the ISI database), was 
similar: Western Europe 36.6%, Africa 27.7%, Latin America and the 
Caribbean 24.4%, and Asia 23.3%. The mean impact factor of articles 
published in tropical medicine journals was highest for the USA (1.65). 
Our analysis suggests that the developing areas of the world produce a 
considerable amount of research in tropical medicine; however, given the 
specific geographic distribution of tropical diseases they probably still 
need help by the developed nations to produce more research in this field. 
(c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 

Addresses: Alfa Inst Biomed Sci, Maroussi 15123, Greece; Henry Dunant 
Hosp, Dept Med, Athens, Greece; Tufts Univ, Sch Med, Dept Med, Boston, MA 
02111 USA 

Reprint Address: Falagas, ME, Alfa Inst Biomed Sci, 9 Neapoleos St, 
Maroussi 15123, Greece. 

E-mail Address: m.falagas at aibs.gr 

Cited Reference Count: 22 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 

Publisher Address: PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS 

ISSN: 0001-706X 

29-char Source Abbrev.: ACTA TROP 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Acta Trop. 

Source Item Page Count: 5 

Subject Category: Parasitology; Tropical Medicine 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 122GH 

*I SCI INF
SCI SCI CIT IND J CI : 2004

*NAT LIB MED
IND MED DAT : 2004 

*UN
UN STAT YB 2 : 33 2004 

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