Coverage of Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science: a case study of the h-index in nursing

Analysis and Mapping of Scientific Literature on Detention and Deportation of International Migrants (1990-2022)

Millions of people cross political borders yearly without having the proper documents. This has led to increased detention and deportation practices in destination countries for reasons related to security and sovereignty. The objective of the current study was to analyze and visualize research publications on the detention and deportation of migrants to identify current research hotspots, research gaps, and potential future research in the field. Relevant research articles were obtained from the Scopus database for the study period from 1900 to December 31, 2022. The analysis included presentations of key contributors to the field and visualization of topics, themes, and international collaboration. In total, 906 articles were found. The earliest was in 1982. The majority of articles were published in journals within the subject areas of social sciences and humanities. The number of publications showed a steep rise from 2011 to 2022. The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies was the most prolific, but publications in the Citizenship Studies journal received the highest number of citations per article. Researchers from the United States contributed the most. Mexico ranked fifth in the number of publications. Oxford University was the most prolific institution, followed by three universities in Australia. The majority of articles were single-authored, indicative of limited author-author collaboration. Research hotspots in the field were "human rights" and "mental health". The detention and deportation of Mexican and other Latino migrants in the United States constituted a distinct research theme in the field. International research collaboration was limited by geographical proximity (e.g., the United States and Mexico) or common language (e.g., the United Kingdom and Australia). Future research topics should focus on alternatives to detention, family separation, and healthcare services for detained migrants. Research activity on detention and deportation is required from all world regions, including the source countries of migrants. Future research should promote alternatives to traditional detentions. The contribution of countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South-Eastern Asian regions needs to be encouraged. Future research on the detention and deportation of non-Latino migrants is highly required.

Research landscape on COVID-19 and liver dysfunction: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

The global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), poses a significant risk to public health. Beyond the respiratory issues initially associated with the condition, severe cases of COVID-19 can also lead to complications in other organs, including the liver. Patients with severe COVID-19 may exhibit various clinical signs of liver dysfunction, ranging from minor elevations in liver enzymes without symptoms to more serious cases of impaired liver function. Liver damage is more commonly observed in patients with severe or critical forms of the disease.

AIM

To present the research landscape on COVID-19 and liver dysfunction while also offering valuable insights into the prominent areas of interest within this particular domain.

METHODS

On 18 February 2023, Scopus was utilised to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the relationship between COVID-19 and the liver dysfunction. The investigation encompassed the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022. Primary sources were meticulously examined and organised in a Microsoft Excel 2013 spreadsheet, categorised by journal, institution, funding agency, country and citation type. VOSviewer version 1.6.18 was employed to explore the prominent topics and knowledge network related to the subject.

RESULTS

There were 2336 publications on COVID-19 and liver dysfunction analysed in this study, of which 558 were published in 2020, 891 in 2021 and 887 in 2022. Researchers from 111 different countries participated in the retrieved documents. The United States contributed the most studies, with 497 documents, representing 21.28% of the total, followed by China with 393 documents (16.82%) and Italy with 255 documents (10.92%). In the context of research related to COVID-19 and the liver, co-occurrence analysis identified three distinct clusters of topics: (1) 'COVID-19 vaccines in liver transplant recipients'; (2) 'liver function tests as a predictor of the severity and clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients'; and (3) 'care of patients with liver disease during the COVID-19 pandemic'.

CONCLUSION

This bibliometric study provides a comprehensive overview of liver-related publications in COVID-19 research over the past 3 years. This study highlights the significant contributions of high-income nations, particularly the United States, China, and Italy, to the production of liver-related scholarly literature in this field. Most of the articles focused on liver dysfunction in patients with COVID-19 and the implications of the virus for gastroenterologists and hepatologists.

Climate change and marketing: a bibliometric analysis of research from 1992 to 2022

Climate change with adverse impacts on the environment, economy, and society requires marketing to change current attitudes and behaviors towards sustainable production and consumption, and thus climate change is interrelated to marketing. However, no body of literature has comprehensively investigated the connections and relationships between climate change and marketing. This study examined such connections and relationships from a bibliometric approach using Web of Science and Scopus databases from 1992 to 2022. The search strategy utilized topic and title/abstract/keyword search. The search query retrieved 1723 documents. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were utilized to analyze data on authors, keywords, institutions, countries, sources, citations, and co-citations. The findings showed an upward trend in the annual number of publications with the top three most productive countries being the USA, the UK, and Australia and the most productive institutions in the USA, New Zealand, and the UK. The top three author keywords were climate change, sustainability, and marketing. The Sustainability journal ranked first in terms of productivity while Energy Policy in terms of citations. International collaborations were mostly between developed countries also known as Global North Countries, and collaborations between these countries and developing and developed countries should be encouraged. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of documents increased, and research themes altered. Research on energy, innovation, insect farming, and carbon management is a top priority. The results proved that most studies were conducted outside the field of marketing.

An analysis of reporting practices in the top 100 cited health and medicine-related bibliometric studies from 2019 to 2021 based on a proposed guidelines

Bibliometric analysis has gained popularity as a quantitative research methodology to evaluate scholarly productivity and identify trends within specific research areas. However, there are currently no established reporting guidelines for bibliometric studies. The present study aimed to investigate the reporting practices of bibliometric research related to health and medicine based on a guidelines "Preferred Reporting Items for Bibliometric Analysis (PRIBA)" proposed in this study. The Science Citation Index, Expanded of the Web of Science was used to identify the top 100 articles with the highest normalized citation counts per year. The search was conducted on April 9, 2022, using the search topic "bibliometric" and including publications from 2019 to 2021. The results substantiated the need for a standardized reporting guideline for bibliometric research. Specifically, among the 25 proposed items in the PRIBA, only five were consistently reported across all articles examined. Further, 11 items were reported by at least 80% of the articles, while nine items were reported by less than 80% of the articles. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the reporting practices of bibliometric studies in the field of health and medicine are in need of improvement. Future research should be conducted to refine the PRIBA guidelines.

Types of Errors Hiding in Google Scholar Data

Google Scholar (GS) is a free tool that may be used by researchers to analyze citations; find appropriate literature; or evaluate the quality of an author or a contender for tenure, promotion, a faculty position, funding, or research grants. GS has become a major bibliographic and citation database. For assessing the literature, databases, such as PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science, can be used in place of GS because they are more reliable. The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy of citation data collected from GS and provide a comprehensive description of the errors and miscounts identified. For this purpose, 281 documents that cited 2 specific works were retrieved via Publish or Perish software (PoP) and were examined. This work studied the false-positive issue inherent in the analysis of neuroimaging data. The results revealed an unprecedented error rate, with 279 of 281 (99.3%) examined references containing at least one error. Nonacademic documents tended to contain more errors than academic publications (U=5117.0; P<.001). This viewpoint article, based on a case study examining GS data accuracy, shows that GS data not only fail to be accurate but also potentially expose researchers, who would use these data without verification, to substantial biases in their analyses and results. Further work must be conducted to assess the consequences of using GS data extracted by PoP.

Metrics and methods in the evaluation of prestige bias in peer review: A case study in computer systems conferences

The integrity of peer review is essential for modern science. Numerous studies have therefore focused on identifying, quantifying, and mitigating biases in peer review. One of these better-known biases is prestige bias, where the recognition of a famous author or affiliation leads reviewers to subconsciously treat their submissions preferentially. A common mitigation approach for prestige bias is double-blind reviewing, where the identify of authors is hidden from reviewers. However, studies on the effectivness of this mitigation are mixed and are rarely directly comparable to each other, leading to difficulty in generalization of their results. In this paper, we explore the design space for such studies in an attempt to reach common ground. Using an observational approach with a large dataset of peer-reviewed papers in computer systems, we systematically evaluate the effects of different prestige metrics, aggregation methods, control variables, and outlier treatments. We show that depending on these choices, the data can lead to contradictory conclusions with high statistical significance. For example, authors with higher h-index often preferred to publish in competitive conferences which are also typically double-blind, whereas authors with higher paper counts often preferred the single-blind conferences. The main practical implication of our analyses is that a narrow evaluation may lead to unreliable results. A thorough evaluation of prestige bias requires a careful inventory of assumptions, metrics, and methodology, often requiring a more detailed sensitivity analysis than is normally undertaken. Importantly, two of the most commonly used metrics for prestige evaluation, past publication count and h-index, are not independent from the choice of publishing venue, which must be accounted for when comparing authors prestige across conferences.

Global Development of Research on Anorectal Malformations over the Last Five Decades: A Bibliometric Analysis

Purpose: Anorectal malformations (ARM) are one of the most challenging congenital malformations in pediatric surgery. We aimed to assess the research activity on ARM over the last five decades. Methods: Data on original research publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (1970–2020), and analyzed for countries, authors, scientific journals, and top-ten papers. Scientific quantity was assessed by the number of publications. Research quality was estimated from the number of citations, average citation rate per item (ACI), and h-index. Results: A total number of 1595 articles with 19,419 citations (ACI = 12.2; h-index = 54) were identified. The annual number of publications and citations significantly increased over time (p < 0.0001). The USA (n = 386; 24.2%), Japan (n = 153; 9.6%), and China (n = 137; 8.6%) were the most productive countries; and the USA (n = 7850; ACI = 20.3; h-index = 44), Japan (n = 1937; ACI = 12.6; h-index = 21), and the Netherlands (n = 1318; ACI = 17.3; h-index = 22) were the top cited countries. Articles were preferentially published in JPS (n = 391; 24.5%), PSI (n = 181; 11.3%), and EJPS (n = 56; 3.5%). Top-ten cited papers focused on classification (n = 1), surgical technique (n = 3), associated syndromes (n = 2), postoperative outcome (n = 3), and basic research (n = 1). Conclusion: This bibliometric study provides valuable insights into the global development of ARM research, and shows that clinical studies and international collaborations dominate in this field.

Research productivity of radiation therapy physics faculty in the United States

Purpose

Research productivity metrics are important for decisions regarding hiring, retention, and promotion in academic medicine, and these metrics can vary widely among different disciplines. This article examines productivity metrics for radiation therapy physicists (RTP) in the United States.

Methods and materials

Database searches were performed for RTP faculty at US institutions that have RTP residencies accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP). Demographics, academic rank, number of publications, academic career length, Hirsch index (h‐index), m‐quotient, and history of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding as a principal investigator (PI) were collected for each RTP. Logistic regression was performed to determine the probability of academic rank as a function of h‐index and m‐quotient. Statistical tests used included the Wilcoxon ranked sum test and the Pearson χ² test.

Results

A total of 1038 faculty and staff were identified at 78 institutions with CAMPEP‐accredited residencies. The average RTP academic career duration is 13.5 years, with 46.7 total publications, h‐index of 10.7, and m‐quotient of 0.66. Additionally, 10.5% of RTP have a history of NIH funding as a PI. Large disparities were found in academic productivity of doctoral‐prepared physicists compared to those with a terminal master's degree. For differences in junior and senior faculty, statistical tests yielded significance in career duration, number of publications, h‐index, and m‐quotient. Gender disparities were identified in the overall distribution of RTP consistent with the membership of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Further gender disparities were found in the number of doctoral‐prepared RTP and physicists in senior faculty roles.

Conclusions

This manuscript provides objective benchmark data regarding research productivity of academic RTP. These data may be of interest to faculty preparing for promotion, and also to institutional leadership.

Global scientific research progress in mycetoma: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Mycetoma is a neglected tropical disease that attracts little attention in regard to research and publications and hence this study was undertaken to determine the trends and global scientific research output in mycetoma-related fields.

METHODS

Mycetoma data were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. The MeSH Browser was used to extract relevant keywords. Biblioshiny software (R-studio cloud), VOSviewer v. 1.6.6 and SPSS software were used for data management.

RESULTS

Research trends on mycetoma increased globally from 1999 to 2020. The results were 404 documents (4444 citations) in WoS and 513 documents (5709 citations) in Scopus, and the average number of citations per article was 11 in WoS and 11.13 in Scopus. There was a significant association between the total number of citations and the total citations per year in both WoS (r=0.833, p<0.0001) and Scopus (r=0.926, p<0.0001). Sudan, India, the Netherlands and Mexico were the top-ranking productive countries for mycetoma publications in WoS, while India, the USA and Mexico were the top-ranking countries in Scopus. Articles on mycetoma were mainly published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the International Journal of Dermatology and the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. A. H. Fahal from the Mycetoma Research Centre, University of Khartoum, Sudan, had the highest number of citations in mycetoma research during 1999-2020, followed by W. W. J. van de Sande from the Erasmus Medical Centre, University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, during 2003-2020.

CONCLUSION

The analysis provides insight into a global overview of Mycetoma research. In addition, the analysis holds a better understanding of the development trends that have emerged in Mycetoma over the past 21 years, which can also offer a scientific reference for future research.

Language Bias in the Google Scholar Ranking Algorithm

The visibility of academic articles or conference papers depends on their being easily found in academic search engines, above all in Google Scholar. To enhance this visibility, search engine optimization (SEO) has been applied in recent years to academic search engines in order to optimize documents and, thereby, ensure they are better ranked in search pages (i.e., academic search engine optimization or ASEO). To achieve this degree of optimization, we first need to further our understanding of Google Scholar’s relevance ranking algorithm, so that, based on this knowledge, we can highlight or improve those characteristics that academic documents already present and which are taken into account by the algorithm. This study seeks to advance our knowledge in this line of research by determining whether the language in which a document is published is a positioning factor in the Google Scholar relevance ranking algorithm. Here, we employ a reverse engineering research methodology based on a statistical analysis that uses Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The results obtained point to a bias in multilingual searches conducted in Google Scholar with documents published in languages other than in English being systematically relegated to positions that make them virtually invisible. This finding has important repercussions, both for conducting searches and for optimizing positioning in Google Scholar, being especially critical for articles on subjects that are expressed in the same way in English and other languages, the case, for example, of trademarks, chemical compounds, industrial products, acronyms, drugs, diseases, etc.

Academic and Gender Differences Among U.S. Otolaryngology Board Members

OBJECTIVES

To determine the representation of women in leadership positions within otolaryngology societies and to compare their academic rank and research productivity to men.

METHODS

The leadership positions of all U.S. otolaryngology societies were compiled. The Medicare Physician Compare database was used to obtain gender and medical school graduation year for all otolaryngologists. An online search was used to determine board member's academic faculty rank. The Scopus database was used to determine an individual's number of publications, citations, and h-index. All websites were accessed from July 2019 to October 2019.

RESULTS

Of the 200 leadership positions, there were 160 unique individuals available for analysis. Of those, 23% were female. In comparison, 18% of all otolaryngologists in the United States are female. The average medical school graduation year was significantly more recent for female leaders (1997 vs. 1990, P < .001) than males, which is similar to all otolaryngologists (2001 vs. 1993, P < .001). Stratifying by gender alone, women averaged significantly fewer publications, citations, and h-indices compared to men (P < .05), and were also less likely to be professors (P < .01). When considering both gender and graduation year, significant differences among academic productivity were only noted for those graduating between 1990 to 1999. Among all board members who graduated after 2000, women comprised a majority of those in leadership positions (52%).

CONCLUSION

Leadership positions in otolaryngology societies reflect the changing demographic of otolaryngologists in the United States. There is proportionate representation, and the more recently graduated female physicians show the same research productivity as their male counterparts.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

4 Laryngoscope, 131:731-736, 2021.

Three Commonly Utilized Scholarly Databases and a Social Network Site Provide Different, But Related, Metrics of Pharmacy Faculty Publication

Scholarly productivity is a critical component of pharmacy faculty effort and is used for promotion and tenure decisions. Several databases are available to measure scholarly productivity; however, comparisons amongst these databases are lacking for pharmacy faculty. The objective of this work was to compare scholarly metrics from three commonly utilized databases and a social networking site focused on data from research-intensive colleges of pharmacy and to identify factors associated with database differences. Scholarly metrics were obtained from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate for faculty from research-intensive (Carnegie Rated R1, R2, or special focus) United States pharmacy schools with at least two million USD in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Metrics were compared and correlations were performed. Regression analyses were utilized to identify factors associated with database differences. Significant differences in scholarly metric values were observed between databases despite the high correlations, suggestive of systematic variation in database reporting. Time since first publication was the most common factor that was associated with database differences. Google Scholar tended to have higher metrics than all other databases, while Web of Science had lower metrics relative to other databases. Differences in reported metrics between databases are apparent, which may be attributable to the time since first publication and database coverage of pharmacy-specific journals. These differences should be considered by faculty, reviewers, and administrative staff when evaluating scholarly performance.

Understanding the Diffusion of Theoretical Knowledge in Nursing: A Citation Analysis of Meleis's Transition Theory

Aim

The aim of this study is to examine the structure of the knowledge creation process in nursing science and to investigate the dissemination of theoretical knowledge in other disciplines by analyzing citations and social network data.

Method

This exploratory study evaluated Metadata to find academic publications. Meleis's Transition Theory was selected as a case study. A majority of the publications that represented the transition theory were assigned as the core of the theory. Forward and backward citations were used as agents of knowledge linkage to determine the dissemination of the theory in the field of science. Social network analysis and visualization were used to depict graphical and structural relations of the research front and the knowledge base.

Results

The knowledge base of the Transition Theory was built on 7 different information networks. The most effective and vast information network consisted of Meleis, AI as a researcher and the central information network, which is the journal of Nursing Research. Oncology, geriatrics, public health, and psychology in the areas of information propagation within the field of nursing were considered as research areas where the theoretical framework provided by the theory was rendered functional.

Conclusion

In recent years, the use of theoretical frameworks has become a necessity to assess the changing needs of the study of nursing science. The method used in the study can be effectively used to analyze the conceptual structures in the nursing education and professional application processes and to understand the origins of these theories. Further research can help to structure the use of informational science-based research designs to understand the connections between theory, clinical practice, and the development of educational contents in nursing faculties.

Ranking by Relevance and Citation Counts, a Comparative Study: Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, WoS and Scopus

Search engine optimization (SEO) constitutes the set of methods designed to increase the visibility of, and the number of visits to, a web page by means of its ranking on the search engine results pages. Recently, SEO has also been applied to academic databases and search engines, in a trend that is in constant growth. This new approach, known as academic SEO (ASEO), has generated a field of study with considerable future growth potential due to the impact of open science. The study reported here forms part of this new field of analysis. The ranking of results is a key aspect in any information system since it determines the way in which these results are presented to the user. The aim of this study is to analyze and compare the relevance ranking algorithms employed by various academic platforms to identify the importance of citations received in their algorithms. Specifically, we analyze two search engines and two bibliographic databases: Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic, on the one hand, and Web of Science and Scopus, on the other. A reverse engineering methodology is employed based on the statistical analysis of Spearman’s correlation coefficients. The results indicate that the ranking algorithms used by Google Scholar and Microsoft are the two that are most heavily influenced by citations received. Indeed, citation counts are clearly the main SEO factor in these academic search engines. An unexpected finding is that, at certain points in time, Web of Science (WoS) used citations received as a key ranking factor, despite the fact that WoS support documents claim this factor does not intervene.

A bibliometric services workshop for subject librarians

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development and analysis of an internal bibliometric services workshop for subject librarians. Primary goals of the workshop were to create an opportunity for collegial knowledge and skill sharing, and to identify discipline specific gaps and future support requirements.

Design/methodology/approach

Two campus librarians who typically offer bibliometric support services used pre- and post-surveys to plan and assess the workshop for subject liaison librarians.

Findings

Subject librarians from across the university expressed interest in developing bibliometric support services. The 12 workshop participants (30 percent of subject librarians) support diverse areas including the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, education and outreach, and the school of business. Post-workshop survey respondents highlighted the contextualization of available measures and the appropriate application of metrics in different disciplines to be the most helpful topics covered. Finally, while the institution subscribes to several citation analysis databases, more familiarity with Google Scholar citations was requested to address user needs and preferences across the various disciplines. Most participants expressed interest in attending additional workshops.

Originality/value

This study showcases the experience of campus librarians working together across academic schools and disciplines to respond to the increasing demand for bibliometric and scholarly impact support services. While services such as citation analysis have typically been siloed in specific job descriptions or subject areas within the library, these are service areas that can benefit from internal library-collaboration opportunities and knowledge sharing.

A comparison of bibliometric indicators in occupational therapy journals published in English

BACKGROUND.

The use of bibliometrics to evaluate the quality and impact of refereed journals has increased along with access to electronic databases and citation counts.

PURPOSE.

This analysis compared and contrasted the range of publication metrics available for English-language occupational therapy journals.

METHOD.

Bibliometric data were sourced for 23 English-language occupational therapy journals, including data from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) 2- and 5-year impact factor, JCR Immediacy Index, Eigenfactor Score, Article Influence Score, Scopus Source Normalized Impact per Paper, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) score, and ResearchGate journal impact score. H-indexes for journals were also sourced.

FINDINGS.

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy had the highest publication metrics. SJR-based scores included a larger number of journals, whereas JCR-based metrics were more restrictive in the number of journals included.

IMPLICATIONS.

Multiple metrics should be used to comprehensively understand occupational therapy journal performance.

Developing population health scientists: Findings from an evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program

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RWJF Health & Society Scholars (HSS) program outcomes evaluated.

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HSS alumni have higher scholarly productivity and impact than control group.

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HSS alumni are more engaged in population health research than controls.

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HSS alumni and controls are similar on other outcome measures.

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Training programs can be evaluated with adequate attention to selection bias.

Evaluation of the academic productivity of the top 100 worldwide physicians in the field of otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery using the Google Scholar h-index as the bibliometrics ranking system

Objective

The top 100 physicians of otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery worldwide were investigated using the Google Scholar h-index.

Method

Although there are various bibliometrics ranking systems that present the academic quantity and quality of scientists’ published articles, the h-index is the most popular and widely accepted. In this study, Google Scholar was used to search all the keywords involving all the subspecialties of otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery, with the aim of identifying as many physicians as possible. Obtaining the Google Scholar h-index and citations is not possible for scientists who do not have Google Scholar accounts. Thus, only those with Google Scholar accounts were included.

Results

The average h-index of all 100 physicians enrolled in the study was 37.83, with a range of 25–81.

Conclusion

The current study details the academic impact of otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery physicians worldwide based on the Google Scholar h-index.

Evolution of physiotherapy scholarship: A comparative bibliometric analysis of two decades of English published work

OBJECTIVES

To undertake a bibliometric analysis of the physiotherapy literature at two points in time to identify similarities, differences, and the evolution of scholarship over a 40-year time-frame.

METHOD

To undertake a quantitative comparative analysis of the published and indexed scholarship literature contained within Scopus relating to physiotherapy over two 10-year time windows-1978-1987 and 2008-2017. The method used, bibliometrics, is capable of identifying the nature of scholarship, the key actors, and how the focus and methods used to conduct studies have changed. A specialized bibliographic analysis and visualization tool VosViewer (University of Leiden) was used to analyse the extracted results.

RESULTS

There has been a more than 10-fold increase in the number of papers published across the two time-frames (3,384 from the 1978 to 1987 period and 38,434 from 2008 to 2017). The focus of publication has moved from a medical disease orientated approach to one more specifically looking at physiotherapy interventions aimed at addressing functional ability. In addition, a more diverse range of research approaches are being used as well as efforts to synthesize findings across multiple studies using systematic reviews and meta-analytical techniques. Authors now come from a much wider range of countries than they did 40 years ago, and they are more likely to be part of a large international collaborative research teams.

CONCLUSIONS

This unique and comprehensive analysis of physiotherapy scholarship across two different timeframes has provided important insights into the evolution of the profession, its changing focus and methodological approaches as well as the dramatic increase in activity, growth in research teams and diversity of country origins. For anyone entering the profession at this time, it provides a perspective on the pace of change they are likely to experience in their career ahead.

Measuring Scholarly Productivity: A Primer for Junior Faculty. Part III: Understanding Publication Metrics

There are approximately 78 indexed journals in the specialty of emergency medicine (EM), making it challenging to determine which is the best option for junior faculty. This paper is the final component of a three-part series focused on guiding junior faculty to enhance their scholarly productivity. As an EM junior faculty's research career advances, the bibliometric tools and resources detailed in this paper should be considered when developing a publication submission strategy. The tenure and promotion decision process in many universities relies at least in part on these types of bibliometrics. This paper provides an understanding of new, alternative metrics that can be used to promote scientific progress in a transparent and timely manner.

Global output of research on epidermal parasitic skin diseases from 1967 to 2017

Background

Epidermal parasitic skin diseases (EPSD) occur in most countries and cause a considerable health and economic burden, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. The aim of this study was to assess and analyse peer-reviewed literature on EPSD in humans. The results of this study serve as an indicator of the extent the scientific community, health authorities, and international health agencies interact with EPSD as a health problem that is commonly associated with poverty and poor hygiene.

Methods

A bibliometric analysis methodology was used. The Scopus database was used to retrieve documents about EPSD for the study period (1967–2017). The study focused on scabies, tungiasis, pediculosis, hookworm-related cutaneous larva migrans (HrCLM), myiasis, and cutaneous strongyloidiasis. Documents that specifically and explicitly discuss EPSD in animals, aquatic organisms, and birds were excluded.

Results

In total, 4186 documents were retrieved. A fluctuated growth of publications on EPSD in the past five decades was found. The retrieved documents received 43 301 citations, an average of 10.3 citations per article and an h-index of 74. The keywords “scabies” and was the most commonly encountered keyword followed by the keywords “head lice” and “pediculosis”. The most active journal involved in publishing articles on EPSD was the International Journal of Dermatology (164; 3.9%). Researchers from 93 different countries published the retrieved articles. The USA led with 735 (17.6%) documents, followed by the UK (274; 6.5%), and Germany (259; 6.2%). In terms of institutions, the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany was the most active in this field with 78 (1.9%) publications, followed by the Universidade Federal do Ceará in Brazil with 52 (1.2%) publications.

Conclusions

Research on scabies and pediculosis dominated the field of EPSD research to the expense of tungiasis, HrCLM, myiasis, and cutaneous strongyloidiasis. There was an underrepresentation of literature from the tropics and subtropics despite EPSD being common in these areas. This could possibly be explained by the presence of limited number of non-English journals in the Scopus database. International research collaborations and research networking should be strengthened to help advance and prioritize research on EPSD.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40249-018-0456-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bibliometric analysis of global migration health research in peer-reviewed literature (2000-2016)

BACKGROUND

The health of migrants has become an important issue in global health and foreign policy. Assessing the current status of research activity and identifying gaps in global migration health (GMH) is an important step in mapping the evidence-base and on advocating health needs of migrants and mobile populations. The aim of this study was to analyze globally published peer-reviewed literature in GMH.

METHODS

A bibliometric analysis methodology was used. The Scopus database was used to retrieve documents in peer-reviewed journals in GMH for the study period from 2000 to 2016. A group of experts in GMH developed the needed keywords and validated the final search strategy.

RESULTS

The number of retrieved documents was 21,457. Approximately one third (6878; 32.1%) of the retrieved documents were published in the last three years of the study period. In total, 5451 (25.4%) documents were about refugees and asylum seekers, while 1328 (6.2%) were about migrant workers, 440 (2.1%) were about international students, 679 (3.2%) were about victims of human trafficking/smuggling, 26 (0.1%) were about patients' mobility across international borders, and the remaining documents were about unspecified categories of migrants. The majority of the retrieved documents (10,086; 47.0%) were in psychosocial and mental health domain, while 2945 (13.7%) documents were in infectious diseases, 6819 (31.8%) documents were in health policy and systems, 2759 (12.8%) documents were in maternal and reproductive health, and 1918 (8.9%) were in non-communicable diseases. The contribution of authors and institutions in Asian countries, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Eastern European countries was low. Literature in GMH represents the perspectives of high-income migrant destination countries.

CONCLUSION

Our heat map of research output shows that despite the ever-growing prominence of human mobility across the globe, and Sustainable Development Goals of leaving no one behind, research output on migrants' health is not consistent with the global migration pattern. A stronger evidence base is needed to enable authorities to make evidence-informed decisions on migration health policy and practice. Research collaboration and networks should be encouraged to prioritize research in GMH.

Outdoor air pollution and respiratory health: a bibliometric analysis of publications in peer-reviewed journals (1900 - 2017)

BACKGROUND

Outdoor air pollution is a major threat to global public health that needs responsible participation of researchers at all levels. Assessing research output is an important step in highlighting national and international contribution and collaboration in a certain field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze globally-published literature in outdoor air pollution - related respiratory health.

METHOD

Outdoor air pollution documents related to respiratory health were retrieved from Scopus database. The study period was up to 2017. Mapping of author keywords was carried out using VOSviewer 1.6.6.

RESULTS

Search query yielded 3635 documents with an h-index of 137. There was a dramatic increase in the number of publications in the last decade of the study period. The most frequently encountered author keywords were: air pollution (835 occurrences), asthma (502 occurrences), particulate matter (198 occurrences), and children (203 occurrences). The United States of America ranked first (1082; 29.8%) followed by the United Kingdom (279; 7.7%) and Italy (198; 5.4%). Annual research productivity stratified by income and population size indicated that China ranked first (22.2) followed by the USA (18.8). Analysis of regional distribution of publications indicated that the Mediterranean, African, and South-East Asia regions had the least contribution. Harvard University (92; 2.5%) was the most active institution/organization followed the US Environmental Protection Agency (89; 2.4%). International collaboration was restricted to three regions: Northern America, Europe, and Asia. The top ten preferred journals were in the field of environmental health and respiratory health. Environmental Health Perspective was the most preferred journal for publishing documents in outdoor pollution in relation to respiratory health.

CONCLUSION

Research on the impact of outdoor air pollution on respiratory health had accelerated lately and is receiving a lot of interest. Global research networks that include countries with high level of pollution and limited resources are highly needed to create public opinion in favor of minimizing outdoor air pollution and investing in green technologies.

Impact factor, eigenfactor, article influence, scopus SNIP, and SCImage journal rank of occupational therapy journals

BACKGROUND

Journals are currently assessed and ranked using a number of different quantitative performance metrics.

AIM

To compare and correlate the publication metrics of English-language occupational therapy journals published in 2015.

METHOD

Bibliometric data was sourced for 14 English-language occupational therapy journals including the Journal Citations Report (JCR) 2-year impact factor (IF), Eigenfactor Score (EFS), Article Influence Score (AIS), Scopus Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), Scopus Citescore, and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) score. The JCR, Scopus, and SJR 2015 bibliometric data were correlated.

RESULTS

The top six English-language occupational therapy journals in relation to JCR IF, EFS, AIS, SNIP, Citescore, SJR score, and SJR IIF were AJOT, AOTJ, POPT, CJOT, SJOT, and BJOT. JCR IF, EFS, JCR AIS, SNIP, Citescore, SJR score and SJR IIF were all significantly correlated with coefficients ranging from 0.751 to 0.961 (p < 0.05; p < 0.01). The calculated SJR IIF was on average 0.335 larger than the JCR IFs reported.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that the range of available bibliometric measures should be used collectively to yield a more comprehensive assessment of journal and article rankings rather than the singular use of IF scores that currently and frequently occurs in many jurisdictions.

Stress in nurses: The 100 top-cited papers published in nursing journals

AIM

To identify and analyse the 100 most cited papers on stress in nurses published in nursing journals.

BACKGROUND

The number of citations an article receives is an index of its impact on the scientific community. An analysis of the most cited articles on stress in nursing would allow us to identify the most important articles and to obtain information about this area of knowledge.

DESIGN

A retrospective bibliometric analysis.

DATA SOURCES

In 2016, 111 journals belonging to the "nursing" category were identified in the Science and Social Science Citation Index. A search was performed of the Science Core Collection Website for articles on stress published in these journals.

REVIEW METHODS

The topic, type of article, publishing journal, countries and institutions of origin and year of publication were extracted from the articles. The impact factor, immediacy index, journal country and publisher and h index were collected from the Institute for Scientific Information. The citation density, citation tendency and Bradford's law were calculated.

RESULTS

They identified articles were mostly empirical quantitative studies with a transversal design, published from 1975 - 2011 in 23 journals. They were signed by 233 authors, most of whom are English-speaking from the USA and UK. The core distribution of the publications comprises a single journal, the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

CONCLUSION

The study of stress in nursing has shown increased visibility and recognition each decade. The most recent articles have the highest number of citations, are the highest in rank and have the higher citation densities.

Inter-rater reliability of h-index scores calculated by Web of Science and Scopus for clinical epidemiology scientists

OBJECTIVE

We investigated the inter-rater reliability of Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus when calculating the h-index of 25 senior scientists in the Clinical Epidemiology Program of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Bibliometric information and the h-indices for the subjects were computed by four raters using the automatic calculators in WoS and Scopus. Correlation and agreement between ratings was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficient and a Bland-Altman plot, respectively.

RESULTS

Data could not be gathered from Google Scholar due to feasibility constraints. The Spearman's rank correlation between the h-index of scientists calculated with WoS was 0.81 (95% CI 0.72-0.92) and with Scopus was 0.95 (95% CI 0.92-0.99). The Bland-Altman plot showed no significant rater bias in WoS and Scopus; however, the agreement between ratings is higher in Scopus compared to WoS.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed a stronger relationship and increased agreement between raters when calculating the h-index of a scientist using Scopus compared to WoS. The higher inter-rater reliability and simple user interface used in Scopus may render it the more effective database when calculating the h-index of senior scientists in epidemiology.

Benchmarking the research track record and level of appointment of Australian occupational therapy academics

BACKGROUND

Academic faculty are active contributors to the evidence base of the profession. Little is known about the research productivity of Australian occupational therapy academics.

METHODS

A bibliographic analysis of Australian occupational therapy faculty websites and corresponding Scopus citation database profiles was conducted. A description of current research productivity benchmarks and relationships with holding a doctorate, academic appointment level and institutional characteristics were explored.

RESULTS

The median H-index of Clinical and Associate Lecturers was 0, 1 for Lecturers, 4 for Senior Lecturers, 7.5 for Associate Professors and 13 for Professors. The number of publications and number of citing documents follows a Pareto tendency, where 20% of researchers are responsible for around 80% of the research track record of Australian occupational therapy academics.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide a benchmark for Australian occupational therapy faculty research track records and associations with appointment levels. This benchmark differs across countries and disciplines. The results raise considerations for enhancing the overall research track record of occupational therapy academics.

The h-Index of Editorial Board Members Correlates Positively With the Impact Factor of Sports Medicine Journals

Background:

The h-index is a metric widely used to present both the productivity and impact of an author’s previous publications.

Purpose:

To evaluate and observe any correlations among the h-indices of 2015 editorial board members from 8 top sports medicine journals.

Study Design:

Systematic review.

Methods:

The sex, country of residence, degree, and faculty position of the editorial board members were identified using their respective scientific publication profiles. The h-index and other bibliometric indicators of these editorial board members were obtained using both the Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar (GS) databases. Nonparametric statistics were used to analyze differences in h-index values, and regression models were used to assess the ability of the editorial board member’s h-index to predict their journal’s impact factor (IF).

Results:

A total of 422 editorial board members were evaluated. The median h-index of all editors was 20 (interquartile range [IQR], 19) using GS and 15 (IQR, 15) using WoS. GS h-index values were 1.19 times higher than WoS, with significant correlation between these values (r² = 0.88, P = .0001). Editorial board members with a PhD had significantly higher h-indices than those without (GS, P = .0007; WoS, P = .0002), and full professors had higher h-indices than associate and assistant professors (GS, P = .0001; WoS, P = .0001). Overall, there were significant differences in the distribution of the GS (P < .0001) and WoS (P < .0001) h-indices of the editorial board members by 2014 IF of the journals. Both the GS h-index (β coefficient, 0.01228; 95% CI, 0.01035-0.01423; P < .0001) as well as the WoS h-index (β coefficient, 0.01507; 95% CI, 0.01265-0.01749; P < .0001) of editorial board members were significant predictors of the 2014 IF of their journal.

Conclusion:

The h-indices of editorial board members of top sports medicine journals are significant predictors of the IF of their respective journals.

Departmental h-Index: Evidence for Publishing Less?

Purpose

The h-index is an established method for determining an individual faculty member's impact on the scientific literature. The purpose of this study was to measure and describe over time the combined h-index of a large university medical imaging department.

Materials and Methods

All faculty members from the Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, were identified from administrative records for 6 separate years between 2000-2014. Individual members' and the departmental h-index were calculated using citation data from the Scopus database. Descriptive univariate statistics were reported. Factors contributing to the change in departmental h-index over time were assessed using linear regression analysis.

Results

The number of faculty members increased from 117 in 2000 to 186 in 2014. The departmental h-index increased from 48 in 2000 to 142 in 2014. During this time period, the median h-index for faculty members increased from 4 (interquartile range 2-8) to 10 (interquartile range 5-19). Regression analysis revealed that for every additional staff member, the departmental h-index increased by 1.4 (standard error = 0.1, P < .01), whereas, by increasing the median h-index of members by 1 the departmental h-index increased by 15.7 (standard error = 0.6, P < .01).

Conclusion

Our study suggests that to increase a department's h-index, it is important to foster impactful research from within the faculty ranks of the department. The h-index of academic radiology departments is a meaningful tool that allows for evaluation from within and against other academic centres.

Understanding Research Impact: A Review of Existing and Emerging Tools for Nursing

Researchers and educators are required to show the impact they have in their field when they apply for promotion or extramural funding. There are several tools available for nursing faculty to consult as they build a research impact profile. This article highlights both traditional and more novel tools, the impact metrics they calculate, and why the tools are particularly relevant to the field of nursing.