Purpose: There is a lack of data concerning the evaluation of scientific research productivity in paracetamol poisoning from the world. The purposes of this study were to analyse the worldwide research output related to paracetamol poisoning and to examine the authorship pattern and the citations retrieved from the Scopus database for over a decade. Methods: Data were searched for documents with specific words regarding paracetamol poisoning as ‘keywords’ in the title or/and abstract. Scientific output was evaluated based on a methodology developed and used in other bibliometric studies. Research productivity was adjusted to the national population and nominal gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Results: There were 1721 publications that met the criteria during study period from the world. All retrieved documents were published from 72 countries. The largest number of articles related to paracetamol poisoning was from the United States (US; 30.39%), followed by India (10.75%) and the United Kingdom (UK; 9.36%). The total number of citations at the time of data analysis was 21,109, with an average of 12.3 citations per each documents and median (interquartile range) of 4 (1–14). The h-index of the retrieved documents was 57. After adjusting for economy and population power, India (124.2), Nigeria (18.6) and the US (10.5) had the highest research productivity. Countries with large economies, such as the UK, Australia, Japan, China and France, tended to rank relatively low after adjustment for GDP over the entire study period. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates evidence that research productivity related to paracetamol poisoning has increased rapidly during the recent years. The US obviously dominated in research productivity. However, certain smaller country such as Nigeria has high scientific output relative to their population size and GDP. A highly noticeable increase in the contributions of Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions to scientific literature related to paracetamol poisoning was also observed.

Background: Toxicology in Malaysia has experienced rapid development and made great progress in education and research in conjunction with economic development in Malaysia over the past two decades. Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to analyse the research originating from Malaysia and published in toxicology journals and to examine the authorship pattern and the citations retrieved from the Scopus database. Methods: Data from 1 January 2003 till 31 December 2012 were searched for documents with specific words in the toxicology field as a ‘source title’ and Malaysia as an affiliation country. Research productivity was evaluated based on a methodology we developed and used in other bibliometric studies by analysing: (a) total and trends of contributions in toxicology fields between 2003 and 2012; (b) Malaysian authorship pattern and productivity; (c) collaboration patterns; (d) journals in which Malaysian researchers publish; (e) the classification of journals to Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) or non-ISI; (f) impact factors (IFs) of all publications; and (g) citations received by the publications. Results: In total, 290 documents were retrieved from 55 international peer-reviewed toxicology journals. The quantity of publication increased by around 10-fold from 2003 to 2012. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 20. Of the 55 journal titles, 42 (76.4%) have their IF listed in the journal citation reports 2012. Forty-two documents (14.5%) were published in journals that had no official IF. The total number of citations, at the time of manuscript writing (5 August 2013), was 1707, with a median (interquartile range) of 3 (0–7). Malaysia collaborated mostly with countries in the Asia-Pacific regions (18.3%), especially India and Japan, followed by the Middle East and Africa (10.0%), especially Palestine and Yemen. Conclusion: The present data show a promising rise and a good start for toxicology research activity in Malaysia. The sharing of relevant research questions by developed and developing countries can lead to research opportunities in the field of toxicology.

Purpose: Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) were the most common agents associated with a significant morbidity and mortality rate. The main objective of this study was to examine the publication pattern related to CCBs poisoning at the global level using bibliometric analysis of articles published in SciVerse Scopus online database. Methods: Data were searched for documents that contained specific words regarding CCB poisoning as keywords in the title. No time period limitations were specified in the search regarding the starting year. The ending date of the search was 31 December 2012. Results: The criteria were met by 713 publications from 53 countries. The largest number of articles associated with CCBs was from the United States (30%), followed by the United Kingdom (7.4%), Japan (6%), and Germany (5.6%). No data related to CCBs were published from 159 (75%) of 212 countries registered in World Bank online database. There was no correlation between the number of published articles in the country and its population size ( r = 0.03, p > 0.926). United Kingdom and Australia were the leading countries in terms of number of CCBs publications per million inhabitants (0.83 and 0.82 articles per million inhabitants, respectively), followed by the United States (0.68). Countries with a large population, such as India, tended to rank relatively low (0.01 articles per million inhabitants). The total number of citations at the time of data analysis (23 October 2014) was 6462, with an average of 9.1 citations per document. The highest median (interquartile range) number of citations was 8 (8–18) for the United States, followed by 6 (1–21) for Australia, 5 (1–15) for the United Kingdom, and 5 (1–24) for Canada. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 37. Conclusions: Scientific production on CCBs poisoning is increasing; nonetheless, the international collaboration is still rare. The amount of CCBs-based research activity was low or not available in most countries. More regional epidemiological studies are required to bridge the gap in CCBs-based research and to promote better evaluation of CCBs poisoning worldwide.

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to examine the publication pattern of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) research output for paracetamol overdose at the global level. Methods: Data were searched for documents that contained specific words regarding NAC and paracetamol as keywords in the title and/or abstract and/or keywords. Scientific output was evaluated based on a methodology developed and used in other bibliometric studies. Research productivity was adjusted to the national population and nominal gross domestic product per capita. Results: The criteria were met by 367 publications from 33 countries. The highest number of articles associated with the use of NAC in paracetamol overdose was from the United States of America (USA; 39.78%), followed by the United Kingdom (UK; 11.99%). After adjusting for economy and population power, USA (2.822), Iran (1.784) and UK (1.125) had the highest research productivity. The total number of citations at the time of data analysis (14 March 2014) was 8785 with an average of 23.9 citations per document and a median (interquartile range) of 6 (1–22). The h-index of the retrieved documents was 48. The highest h-index was 32 for USA, followed by 20 for UK. Furthermore, the highest number of collaborations with international authors for each country was held by USA with 11 countries, followed by Canada with 7 countries. Conclusion: The amount of NAC-based research activity was low in some countries, and more effort is needed to bridge this gap and to promote better evaluation of NAC use worldwide. Our findings demonstrate that NAC use for paracetamol overdose remains a hot issue in scientific research and may have a larger audience compared with other toxicological aspects. Editors and authors in the field of toxicology might usefully promote the submission of work on NAC in future to improve their journal’s impact.

Kuwait (11.8 %) and Qatar (10.8 %). International cooperation was highest with Malaysia (9.7 %) followed by Pakistan (7.5 %), United Kingdom (UK) (8.6 %), and Australia (6.5 %). Conclusion:The quantity and quality of community pharmacy-based research originating from Middle Eastern Arab countries was low. More effort is needed to bridge the gap in community pharmacy-based research and to promote better community pharmacy services in Middle Eastern Arab countries.