Scientific Publications in Nephrology and Urology Journals from Chinese Authors in East Asia: A 10-Year Survey of the Literature

Abstract

BackgroundDiseases of the kidneys and genitourinary tract are common health problems that affect people of all ages and demographic backgrounds. In this study, we compared the quantity and quality of nephrological and urological articles published in international journals from the three major regions of China: the mainland (ML), Hong Kong (HK), and Taiwan (TW).MethodsNephrological and urological articles originating from ML, TW, and HK that were published in 61 journals from 1999–2008 were retrieved from the PubMed database. We recorded the numbers of total articles, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, case reports, impact factors (IF), citations, and articles published in the leading general-medicine journals. We used these data to compare the quantity and quality of publication output from the three regions.ResultsThe total number of articles increased significantly from 1999 to 2008 in the three regions. The number of articles from ML has exceeded that from HK since 2004, and surpassed that from TW in 2008. Publications from TW had the highest accumulated IF, total citations of articles, and the most articles published in leading general-medicine journals. However, HK publications had the highest average IF. Although ML produced the largest quantity of articles, it exhibited the lowest quality among the three regions.ConclusionThe number of nephrological and urological publications originating from the three major regions of China increased significantly from 1999 to 2008. The annual number of publications by ML researchers exceeded those from TW and HK. However, the quality of articles from TW and HK was higher than that from ML.

Lanthanum carbonate for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in CKD 5D: multicenter, double blind, randomized, controlled trial in mainland China

“…A double-blind RCT in 73 Chinese patients on hemodialysis in Taiwan showed similar results to previous US and European studies [17]. However, mainland China has more limited medical resources and must serve a larger population of CKD 5D patients across a broader territory than other major regions of China, including Taiwan, which makes comprehensive treatment of these patients more difficult and challenging [21]. Furthermore, there are currently no officially approved phosphorus binders in mainland China.…”

“…Compared with more developed areas of China, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, there are limited medical resources in mainland China, and these must serve a large population across a broad territory [21]. In 2002, nearly 1550 per million people (pmp) in Taiwan received regular dialysis treatment; this prevalence was even higher than that in the USA.…”

Bibliometric analysis of scientific publications in respiratory journals from China and other top‐ranking countries between 2007 and 2017

“…And we found that there was a strong negative correlation between MC's average IFs and the annual number of articles. It suggested that respiratory researchers from MC may sacrifice quality for quantity as demonstrated by other reports . It should also be mentioned that IFs are not the only or optimal parameters to identify the quality of articles .…”

Globalization in Urology: A Bibliographical Analysis of Cross-Continent Publication between 2002 and 2012

“…Asian researchers with limited English proficiency may prefer to publish their data in national or regional journals. In fact, although the number of articles published in the fields of urology by researchers from China increased significantly from 1999 to 2008, a substantial amount of their work is still being published in Chinese [22]. Other reasons for Asian under-representation in Western journals might be a bias against researchers from developing countries, with the consequence that the article might be judged with a biased attitude based on the origin of the author [23].…”