Current status on health sciences research productivity pertaining to Angola up to 2014

Abstract

BackgroundHealth research driven by the healthcare demands of the population can provide an informative evidence base to support decision-making processes on health policies, programmes, and practices. This paper surveyed the production of scientific research concerning health in Angola, specifically to access the publication rate over time, the main research topics and scientific fields, and the contribution of Angolan researchers and institutions.MethodsThe study focused on data collected in a retrospective literature search in Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) as of June 8, 2014, with the keyword “Angola” and on content information in correspondent publications deposited in PubMed.ResultsBVS generated 1,029 hits, 74.6 % of which were deposited in PubMed where 301 abstracts were described. From 1979 to 2003, there were 62 publications and in 2004–2013 the quantity increased four-fold (n = 232); malaria was the most frequent topic (n = 42). Angola was the country with the largest number of publications, taking into account the primary affiliation of the first author (n = 45). Universities, institutes, or research centres accounted for 65 % of the publications and in descending order Portugal, Brazil, and the United States of America occupied the three first positions. Epidemiology was by far the most frequent field of research (n = 165).ConclusionsThe number of publications has increased steadily over the past 10 years, with predominance on malaria topics. Angola was the country with the largest number of major affiliations of the first author, but the contribution of Angolan institutions was relatively low, indicating a need to reinforce academic research institutions in the country.

Research productivity and main publishing institutions in Côte d’Ivoire, 2000–2016

“…Comparing research productivity in Côte d’Ivoire with other African countries is equally challenging owing to the scarcity of studies available and the inconsistency of study designs with respect to performance indicators, databases searched, article types included, time periods surveyed, and scientific domains assessed [ 2 – 9 ]. Using article quantity normalized to GDP and population offers, thus far, the best comparative base as information on %GDP spent on R&D and institutional funding details are difficult to obtain, as experienced in the current analysis and work pursued before.…”

“…Unfortunately, only few studies prior to 2007 offer insight into the quantity and quality of the national research output within Africa [ 2 – 7 ]. Reports for the most current decade are even scarcer [ 8 , 9 ]. Francophone, hispanophone, and lusophone nations, in particular, have often been below the radar of the international research community due to a language bias toward English articles on the main international publishing and referencing databases in the life sciences and biomedical sciences.…”

Predictors of Medical Students’ Views toward Research: Insights from a Cross-Cultural Study among Portuguese-Speaking Countries

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Revisiones de alcance, revisiones paraguas y síntesis enfocada en revisión de mapas: aspectos metodológicos y aplicaciones

“…En la actualidad, la producción científica en los tópicos de ciencias de la salud evidencia un enorme y constante crecimiento (1,2) . En este escenario, los estudios que sintetizan la evidencia son muy útiles para responder diversas preguntas de investigación.…”