A snapshot of pneumonia research activity and collaboration patterns (2001–2015): a global bibliometric analysis

Ramos‐Rincón, José‐Manuel; Pinargote‐Celorio, Héctor; Belinchón, Isabel; González‐Alcaide, Gregorio

doi:10.1186/s12874-019-0819-4

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Other bibliometric studies have also described the relevance of the USA in collaborative HIV/AIDS research output in Africa [11], Latin America and the Caribbean [34], and Asia [35]. Our own group have highlighted this role in other biomedical research fields [36].…”

Section: High Degree Of International Collaboration Low Level Of Leamentioning

confidence: 89%

HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships.

González‐Alcaide

Menchi-Elanzi

Nacarapa³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: HIV/AIDS has attracted considerable research attention since the 1980s. In the current context of globalization and the predominance of cooperative work, it is crucial to analyze the participation of the countries and regions where the infection is most prevalent, African continent being the hardest hit (67.5% of estimated cases). This study assesses the participation of African countries in publications on the topic, as well as the degree of equity or influence existing in North-South relations.Methods : We identified all articles and reviews of HIV/AIDS indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. We analyzed the scientific production, collaboration, and contributions from African and Middle Eastern countries to scientific activity in the region. The concept of leadership was used to determine the equity in research produced through international collaboration. Results: A total of 68,808 documents published from 2010 to 2017 were analyzed. Researchers from North America and Europe participated in 82.14% of the global scientific production on HIV/AIDS, compared to just 21.61% from Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, the research that did come out of these regions was concentrated in a small number of countries, led by South Africa (41% of the documents). Other features associated with HIV/AIDS research from Africa include the importance of international collaboration from the USA, the UK, and other European countries (75%-93% of the documents) and the limited leadership that is evident (30% to 36% of the documents). Finally, the research to which African countries contributed had a notably different disciplinary orientation, with a predominance of research on public health, epidemiology, and drug therapy.Conclusions: It is essential to foster more balance in research output, avoid the concentration of resources that reproduces the global North-South model on the African continent, and focus the research agenda on local priorities. To accomplish this, the global North should strengthen the transfer of research skills and seek equity in cooperative ties, favoring the empowerment of African countries. These efforts should be concentrated in countries with low scientific activity and high incidence and prevalence of the disease. It is also essential to foster intraregional collaborations between African countries.

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Section: High Degree Of International Collaboration Low Level Of Leamentioning

confidence: 89%

HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships.

González‐Alcaide

Menchi-Elanzi

Nacarapa³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Research production was highly concentrated in developed countries, though North America published more than Europe (36% versus 32% of worldwide production). In contrast, in other areas of biomedical research, the distribution of research publications is more balanced, for example in pneumonia (42% in North America versus 41% in Europe) [ 45 ]. The participation of Africa (5.6%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (4.3%) is far from ideal, not just because a large portion of epidemic outbreaks with a global projection originate in these regions [ 46 ], but because their countries bear a disproportionate disease burden for both infectious diseases and NCDs, even though the latter are traditionally associated with high-income countries [ 36 , 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic analysis of the scientific literature on population surveillance

González‐Alcaide¹,

Llorente²,

Ramos‐Rincón³

2020

Heliyon

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Introduction Population surveillance provides data on the health status of the population through continuous scrutiny of different indicators. Identifying risk factors is essential for the quickly detecting and controlling of epidemic outbreaks and reducing the incidence of cross-infections and non-communicable diseases. The objective of the present study is to analyze research on population surveillance, identifying the main topics of interest for investigators in the area. Methodology We included documents indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection in the period from 2000 to 2019 and assigned with the generic Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) “population surveillance” or its related terms (“public health surveillance,” “sentinel surveillance” or “biosurveillance”). A co-occurrence analysis was undertaken to identify the document clusters comprising the main research topics. Scientific production, collaboration, and citation patterns in each of the clusters were characterized bibliometrically. We also analyzed research on coronaviruses, relating the results obtained to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results We included 39,184 documents, which reflected a steady growth in scientific output driven by papers on “Public, Environmental & Occupational Health” (21.62% of the documents) and “Infectious Diseases” (10.49%). Research activity was concentrated in North America (36.41%) and Europe (32.09%). The USA led research in the area (40.14% of documents). Ten topic clusters were identified, including “Disease Outbreaks,” which is closely related to two other clusters (“Genetics” and “Influenza”). Other clusters of note were “Cross Infections” as well as one that brought together general public health concepts and topics related to non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular and coronary diseases, mental diseases, diabetes, wound and injuries, stroke, and asthma). The rest of the clusters addressed “Neoplasms,” “HIV,” “Pregnancy,” “Substance Abuse/Obesity,” and “Tuberculosis.” Although research on coronavirus has focused on population surveillance only occasionally, some papers have analyzed and collated guidelines whose relevance to the dissemination and management of the COVID-19 pandemic has become obvious. Topics include tracing the spread of the virus, limiting mass gatherings that would facilitate its propagation, and the imposition of quarantines. There were important differences in the scientific production and citation of different clusters: the documents on mental illnesses, stroke, substance abuse/obesity, and cross-infections had much higher citations than the clusters on disease outbreaks, tuberculosis, and especially coronavirus, where these values are substantially lower. Conclusions The role of population surveillance should be strengthened, promoting research and the development of public health surveillance systems in countries whose contribution to the area is limited.

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“…Other bibliometric studies have also described the relevance of the USA in collaborative HIV/AIDS research output in Africa [11], Latin America and the Caribbean [35], and Asia [36]. Our own group have highlighted this role in other biomedical research fields [37].…”

Section: High Degree Of International Collaboration Low Level Of Leamentioning

confidence: 89%

HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships

González‐Alcaide

Menchi-Elanzi

Nacarapa³

et al. 2020

Global Health

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Background HIV/AIDS has attracted considerable research attention since the 1980s. In the current context of globalization and the predominance of cooperative work, it is crucial to analyze the participation of the countries and regions where the infection is most prevalent. This study assesses the participation of African countries in publications on the topic, as well as the degree of equity or influence existing in North-South relations. Methods We identified all articles and reviews of HIV/AIDS indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. We analyzed the scientific production, collaboration, and contributions from African and Middle Eastern countries to scientific activity in the region. The concept of leadership, measured through the participation as the first author of documents in collaboration was used to determine the equity in research produced through international collaboration. Results A total of 68,808 documents published from 2010 to 2017 were analyzed. Researchers from North America and Europe participated in 82.14% of the global scientific production on HIV/AIDS, compared to just 21.61% from Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, the publications that did come out of these regions was concentrated in a small number of countries, led by South Africa (41% of the documents). Other features associated with HIV/AIDS publications from Africa include the importance of international collaboration from the USA, the UK, and other European countries (75–93% of the documents) and the limited participation as first authors that is evident (30 to 36% of the documents). Finally, the publications to which African countries contributed had a notably different disciplinary orientation, with a predominance of research on public health, epidemiology, and drug therapy. Conclusions It is essential to foster more balance in research output, avoid the concentration of resources that reproduces the global North-South model on the African continent, and focus the research agenda on local priorities. To accomplish this, the global North should strengthen the transfer of research skills and seek equity in cooperative ties, favoring the empowerment of African countries. These efforts should be concentrated in countries with low scientific activity and high incidence and prevalence of the disease. It is also essential to foster intraregional collaborations between African countries.

show abstract

A snapshot of pneumonia research activity and collaboration patterns (2001–2015): a global bibliometric analysis

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships.

HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships.

Systematic analysis of the scientific literature on population surveillance

HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships

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