Ebola and Its Global Research Architecture--Need for an Improvement

Global mpox research in the light of the current outbreak: demands, drivers, and obstacles

Following the current outbreak, the mpox virus (formerly: monkeypox virus) is a highly threatening pathogen with public health significance, although mpox is still considered a neglected disease. Previously confined mainly to Africa, the virus spread globally in 2022. However, knowledge about mpox is limited, causing a distorted perception of the disease. Therefore, this study aimed to collect all information on scientific mpox publishing and to analyse them according to their chronological, geographical, and epidemiological patterns. It was not until the global outbreak that the relatively small number of publications was replaced by the immense increase in annual publication numbers. The most important player is the USA with a central role in international networking. They collaborated mainly with the Democratic Republic of Congo, a primary endemic country where the first viral clades were determined. Nigeria and other African countries were also represented, although mainly in the form of co-authorships. The fact that few of the first authors are from low- or middle-economic countries demonstrates the need to promote equitable networking at the global level and their support for surveillance and targeted immunization programmes.

Neonicotinoids: A critical assessment of the global research landscape of the most extensively used insecticide

The broad-spectrum insecticides in the neonicotinoid group are the most widely used worldwide because of their widely recognized advantages in the mode of action. Therefore, their use is growing on a large scale and, moreover, is often used preventively without considering the ecological impact. Studies demonstrated harmful effects on non-target organisms, which in turn negatively impact biodiversity and thus food production. The dramatic decline of honey bee colonies, for example, could be linked to the use of neonicotinoids. Ecologically sustainable solutions to this conflict must be focused by scientific research. The question arose whether the global research efforts meet these requirements on a global scale. Therefore, this review article aimed to analyze the global research landscape on neonicotinoids under ecological, economic, and temporal aspects. To this end, key players and incentives for investigations in this research field are identified. The increase in publications over time is significant and shows a dynamic citation pattern. It indicates a comparatively high interest in current research, with ecological issues becoming more and more the focus of international research. It has been shown that national publication performance and funding are in line with global market interests, with the most publishing country being China. In addition, the elevated status quo of the scientific infrastructure in high-economy countries and their willingness to support research can be linked to national research output. Lower economies are sparsely involved in published studies. The research performance accumulates with a high North-South divide. Therefore, future research projects must have a sustainable focus and take regional requirements worldwide into account. This requires greater involvement of developing countries as the most economically dependent regions with enormously increasing consumption rates. Solutions must be found to ensure sustainable food production against a backdrop of already declining biodiversity due to the large-scale use of neonicotinoids.

Does health-related poverty publication landscape reflect global needs in the light of the current poverty rebound?

BACKGROUND

After nearly a quarter-century of declining poverty, the numbers are rising again significantly. This is due not only to effects of climate change but also to the COVID-19 pandemics and armed conflict. Combined with the enormous health impacts, that will cause misery and health care costs worldwide. Therefore, this study provides background information on the global research landscape on poverty and health to help researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers determine the best way to address this threat.

RESULTS

The USA is the key player, dealing mainly with domestic issues. European countries are also involved but tend to be more internationally oriented. Developing countries are underrepresented, with Nigeria standing out. A positive correlation was found between publication numbers and economic strength, while the relationship between article numbers and multidimensional poverty was negatively correlated.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the need for advanced networking and the benefits of cross-disciplinary research to mitigate the coming impacts.

Sub-Saharan African Countries‘ COVID-19 Research: An analysis of the External and Internal Contributions, Collaboration Patterns and Funding Sources

This study aims at providing some evidence-based insight into Sub-Saharan Africa’s first eighteen months of COVID-19 research by evaluating its research contributions, patterns of collaboration, and funding sources. Eighteen months (2020 January 1-2021 June 30) COVID-19 publication data of 46 Sub-Saharan African countries was collected from Scopus for analysis. Country of affiliation of the authors and funding agencies data was analyzed to understand country contributions, collaboration pattern and funding sources. USA (23.08%) and the UK (19.63%), the top two external contributors, collaborated with Sub-Saharan African countries about three times more than other countries. Collaborative papers between Sub-Saharan African countries - without contributions from outside the region- made up less than five per cent of the sample, whereas over 50% of the papers were written in collaboration with researchers from outside the region. Organizations that are in the USA and the UK funded 45% of all the COVID-19 research from Sub-Saharan Africa. 53.44% of all the funding from Sub-Saharan African countries came from South African organizations. This study provides evidence that pan-African COVID-19 research collaboration is low, perhaps due to poor funding and lack of institutional support within Sub-Saharan Africa. This mirrors the collaborative features of science in Sub-Saharan Africa before the COVID-19 pandemic. The high volume of international collaboration during the pandemic is a good development. There is also a strong need to forge more robust pan-African research collaboration networks, through funding from Africa’s national and regional government organizations, with the specific objective of meeting local COVID-19 and other healthcare needs.

Shifting Geographies of Knowledge Production: The Coronavirus Effect

This research note analyses the evolving geographies of coronavirus disease research before and during the first three months of the 2020 epidemic outbreak. An examination of global networks of scientific co-production highlights the increasing centrality and knowledge intermediation profile of Chinese organisations. It is argued that it is important to understand these global geographies and networks, as they may signal varying (and cumulative) abilities to generate, intermediate, and access relevant knowledge in the face of epidemic outbreaks.

Global research on Fabry's disease: Demands for a rare disease

Background

Fabry disease (FD), the second most prevalent lysosomal storage disorder, is classified as a rare disease. It often leads to significant quality of life impairments and premature death. Many cases remain undiagnosed due to the rarity and heterogeneity. Further, costs related to treatment often constitute a substantial financial burden for patients and health systems. While its epidemiology is still unclear, newborn screenings suggest that its actual prevalence rate is significantly higher than previously suspected.

Methods

Based on well‐established methodologies, this study gives an overview about the background of the development of FD‐related research and provides a critical view of future needs.

Results

On the grounds of benchmarking findings, an increasing research activity on FD can be observed. Most publishing countries are the USA, some European countries, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. In general, high‐income countries publish comparably more on FD than low‐ or middle‐income economies. The countries' financial and infrastructural background are unveiled as crucial factors for the FD research activity.

Conclusions

Overall, there is a need to foster FD research infrastructure in developing and emerging countries with focus on cost‐intensive genetic research that is independent from economic interests of big pharmaceutical companies.

A world map of evidence-based medicine: Density equalizing mapping of the Cochrane database of systematic reviews

Systematic reviews represent the core and backbone of evidence-based medicine (EBM) strategies in all fields of medicine. In order to depict a first global sketch of the international efforts in the Cochrane database systematic reviews (CDSR), we analyzed the systematic reviews of the Cochrane database. Our global maps of systematic reviewing offer intriguing structural insights into the world of EBM strategies. They demonstrate that for the CDSR, the UK and Commonwealth countries take the lead position. Since patients, care providers and health systems all over the world benefit from systematic reviewing, institutions in other countries should increase their commitment.

New quality and quantity indices in science (NewQIS): results of the first decade-project progress review

Strategies employing information science and scientometric approaches were introduced to science policy and management over the past decades. As a rapidly evolving field, new bibliometric parameters are proposed and discussed continuously and the fields also benefits from the introduction of novel visualization techniques. The present article summarizes the experiences with a platform that combines geographical mapping with scientometrics. It was established between 2005 and 2008 at the Charité in Berlin and termed “New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science” (NewQIS), consisting of the integration of common scientometric parameters such as the h-index and novel visualization techniques including density equalizing mapping. NewQIS was used to assess socio-economic important fields of medicine and sciences. Within NewQIS studies, research activities, citation patterns and their relation to socio-economic figures were analyzed with regard to time periods, countries, continents or even single cities. Within the decade after its establishment, more than 80 NewQIS articles were peer-reviewed and published. Being a non-funded low budget project, it was used by many medical students to conduct their MD thesis. The narrow technical frame led to the chance of a comparison of research output between different fields of science. This article summarizes NewQIS 1.0 activities, discusses its limits and gives a look into the future of NewQIS 2.0 with a target of 200 evaluated entities of the biomedical field of sciences.

Social sciences research in the Central European city of Wrocław: A density-equalizing mapping analysis

Background

The city of Wrocław in Poland represents one of Central Europeans oldest capitals of science with numerous Nobel laureates. Due to a long history of political suppressions with Nazi Germany and Communism from 1933 until 1989, its scientific community was suppressed for more than half a century.

Methods

The present study assessed scientific activities in the field of social and neighbouring sciences using density equalizing mapping. On the basis of the NewQIS (New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science) platform and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) of the Web of Science database, a total of 1787 articles originating from Wrocław were identified between 1966 and 2017.

Results

In total, 549 research collaborations of Wrocław with 96 different countries were present (30.7%). Among the 107 research areas the highest activity was found for the field of Business and Economics with n = 272 articles (average citation rate (AVR) of 12.54), followed by Psychology (n = 252 articles, AVR = 9.06), Psychiatry (n = 205 articles, AVR = 4.74) and Public, Environmental and Occupational Health (n = 145 articles, AVR = 7.96). The highest AVR was found for Operations Research (25.36 with n = 87 articles). Density equalizing mapping procedures revealed a global pattern of social sciences research collaborations with scientists from Germany, the UK and the US as the primary cooperating partner of Wrocław. The different countries had major differences in the area of research collaborations.

Conclusions

This is the first study that depicts the global network of Wrocław scientific activities in the field of social sciences. The exorbitant increase in research activity from 2006 onwards can lead to the assumption that Wrocław social sciences encounter a fruitful future.

The uterine fibroid/myoma tumour: analysis of the global research architecture using density-equalizing mapping

Uterine fibroids can severely impact a woman's quality of life, result in significant morbidity and are a leading indication for hysterectomy. Many aspects of the disease remain largely obscure. Despite these knowledge gaps, no detailed maps of the global fibroid research architecture have yet been generated. This study used the NewQIS approach to assess worldwide research productivity, encompassing numerous aspects of the scientific output, quality and socioeconomic features. Regression analysis indicated an increase in fibroid research activity in the investigated time periods. Global research output was dominated by leading Western countries, with the USA at the forefront, but also by East Asian countries. Socioeconomic benchmarking revealed that Taiwan had the highest fibroid research activity per GDP, with a calculated average of 279.46 fibroid-related publications per 1000 billion USD GDP. Finland was the most active country with respect to research activity per population size. Subject area analyses revealed major differences in research focuses, for example 'Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging' was assigned to 29.92% of South Korean and to only 10.38% of US-American publications. In conclusion, this analysis of global fibroid research activity illustrates a multitude of important features ranging from quantitative and semi-qualitative fibroid research aspects to socioeconomic benchmarking.

Ectopic pregnancy: exploration of its global research architecture using density-equalising mapping and socioeconomic benchmarks

OBJECTIVE

About 2% of all pregnancies are complicated by the implantation of the zygote outside the uterine cavity and termed ectopic pregnancy. Whereas a multitude of guidelines exists and related research is constantly growing, no thorough assessment of the global research architecture has been performed yet. Hence, we aim to assess the associated scientific activities in relation to geographical and chronological developments, existing research networks and socioeconomic parameters.

DESIGN

Retrospective, descriptive study.

SETTING

On the basis of the NewQIS platform, scientometric methods were combined with novel visualising techniques such as density-equalising mapping to assess the scientific output on ectopic pregnancy. Using the Web of Science, we identified all related entries from 1900 to 2012.

RESULTS

8040 publications were analysed. The USA and the UK were dominating the field in regard to overall research activity (2612 and 723 publications), overall citation numbers and country-specific H-Indices (US: 80, UK: 42). Comparison to economic power of the most productive countries demonstrated that Israel invested more resources in ectopic pregnancy-related research than other nations (853.41 ectopic pregnancy-specific publications per 1000 billlion US$ gross domestic product (GDP)), followed by the UK (269.97). Relation to the GDP per capita index revealed 49.3 ectopic pregnancy-specific publications per US$1000 GDP per capita for the USA in contrast to 17.31 for the UK. Semiqualitative indices such as country-specific citation rates ranked Switzerland first (24.7 citations per ectopic pregnancy-specific publication), followed by the Scandinavian countries Finland and Sweden. Low-income countries did not exhibit significant research activities.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first in-depth analysis of global ectopic pregnancy research since 1900. It offers unique insights into the global scientific landscape. Besides the USA and the UK, Scandinavian countries and Switzerland can also be regarded as leading nations with regard to their relative socioeconomic input.

Analysing published global Ebola Virus Disease research using social network analysis

INTRODUCTION

The 2014/2015 West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak attracted global attention. Numerous opinions claimed that the global response was impaired, in part because, the EVD research was neglected, although quantitative or qualitative studies did not exist. Our objective was to analyse how the EVD research landscape evolved by exploring the existing research network and its communities before and during the outbreak in West Africa.

METHODS/ PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Social network analysis (SNA) was used to analyse collaborations between institutions named by co-authors as affiliations in publications on EVD. Bibliometric data of publications on EVD between 1976 and 2015 was collected from Thomson Reuters' Web of Science Core Collection (WoS). Freely available software was used for network analysis at a global-level and for 10-year periods. The networks are presented as undirected-weighted graphs. Rankings by degree and betweenness were calculated to identify central and powerful network positions; modularity function was used to identify research communities. Overall 4,587 publications were identified, of which 2,528 were original research articles. Those yielded 1,644 authors' affiliated institutions and 9,907 connections for co-authorship network construction. The majority of institutions were from the USA, Canada and Europe. Collaborations with research partners on the African continent did exist, but less frequently. Around six highly connected organisations in the network were identified with powerful and broker positions. Network characteristics varied widely among the 10-year periods and evolved from 30 to 1,489 institutions and 60 to 9,176 connections respectively. Most influential actors are from public or governmental institutions whereas private sector actors, in particular the pharmaceutical industry, are largely absent.

CONCLUSION/ SIGNIFICANCE

Research output on EVD has increased over time and surged during the 2014/2015 outbreak. The overall EVD research network is organised around a few key actors, signalling a concentration of expertise but leaving room for increased cooperation with other institutions especially from affected countries. Finding innovative ways to maintain support for these pivotal actors while steering the global EVD research network towards an agenda driven by agreed, prioritized needs and finding ways to better integrate currently peripheral and newer expertise may accelerate the translation of research into the development of necessary live saving products for EVD ahead of the next outbreak.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: analysis of the global research architecture using density equalizing mapping

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of female infertility worldwide. Although the related research output is constantly growing, no detailed global map of the scientific architecture has so far been created encompassing quantitative, qualitative, socioeconomic and gender aspects. We used the NewQIS platform to assess all PCOS-related publications indexed between 1900 and 2014 in the Web of Science, and applied density equalizing mapping projections, scientometric techniques and economic benchmarking procedures. A total of 6261 PCOS-specific publications and 703 international research collaborations were found. The USA was identified as the most active country in total and collaborative research activity. In the socioeconomic analysis, the USA was also ranked first (25.49 PCOS-related publications per gross domestic product [GDP]/capita), followed by the UK, Italy and Greece. When research activity was related to population size, Scandinavian countries and Greece were leading the field. For many highly productive countries, gender analysis revealed a high ratio of female scientists working on PCOS with the exception of Japan. In this study, we have created the first picture of global PCOS research, which largely differs from other gynaecologic conditions and indicates that most related research and collaborations originate from high-income countries.

Ovarian cancer: density equalizing mapping of the global research architecture

Background

Despite its impact on female health worldwide, no efforts have been made to depict the global architecture of ovarian cancer research and to understand the trends in the related literature. Hence, it was the objective of this study to assess the global scientific performance chronologically, geographically and in regards to economic benchmarks using bibliometric tools and density equalizing map projections.

Methods

The NewQIS platform was employed to identify all ovarian cancer related articles published in the Web of Science since 1900. The items were analyzed regarding quantitative aspects (e.g. publication date, country of origin) and parameters describing the recognition of the work by the scientific community (e.g. citation rates).

Results

23,378 articles on ovarian cancer were analyzed. The USA had the highest activity of ovarian cancer research with a total of n = 9312 ovarian cancer-specific publications, followed by the UK (n = 1900), China (n = 1813), Germany (n = 1717) and Japan (n = 1673). Ovarian cancer-specific country h-index also showed a leading position of the USA with an h-index (HI) of 207, followed by the UK (HI = 122), Canada (HI = 99), Italy (HI = 97), Germany (HI = 84), and Japan (HI = 81). In the socio-economic analysis, the USA were ranked first with an average of 175.6 ovarian cancer-related publications per GDP per capita in 1000 US-$, followed by Italy with an index level of 46.85, the UK with 45.48, and Japan with 43.3. Overall, the USA and Western European nations, China and Japan constituted the scientific power players publishing the majority of highly cited ovarian cancer-related articles and dominated international collaborative efforts. African, Asian and South American countries played almost no visible role in the scientific community.

Conclusions

The quantity and scientific recognition of publications related to ovarian cancer are continuously increasing. The research endeavors in the field are concentrated in high-income countries with no involvement of lower-resource nations. Hence, worldwide collaborative efforts with the aim to exchange epidemiologic data, resources and knowledge have to be strengthened in the future to successfully alleviate the global burden related to ovarian cancer.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12942-016-0076-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Snakebite Envenoming - A Combined Density Equalizing Mapping and Scientometric Analysis of the Publication History

Estimates suggest that more than 25,000 to 125,000 people die annually from snakebite envenomation worldwide. In contrast to this major disease burden, thorough bibliometric studies do not exist so far that illustrate the overall research activity over a long time span. Therefore, the NewQIS-platform conducted an analysis on snakebite envenoming using the Thomson Reuters database Web of Science. To determine and assess changes regarding the scientific activities and to specifically address the more recent situation we analyzed two time intervals (t). During the first time interval from 1900 to 2007 (t1) 13,015 publications (p) were identified. In the following period (2008-2016 = t2) 4,982 publications were identified by the same search strategy. They originate from 114 (t1) respectively 121 countries (t2), with the USA (p = 3518), Brazil (p = 1100) and Japan (p = 961) being most productive in the first period, and the USA (p = 1087), Brazil (p = 991) and China (p = 378) in the second period, respectively. Setting the publication numbers in relation to GDP/capita, Brazil leads with 92 publications per 10,000 Int$GDP/capita, followed by India with 79 publications per 10000 Int$GDP/capita (t1). Comparing the country's publication activity with the Human Development Index level indicates that the majority of the publications is published by highly developed countries. When calculating the average citation rates (citations per published item = CR) mainly European countries show the highest ranks: From 1900-2007 Sweden ranks first with a CR = 27, followed by the Netherlands (CR = 24.8), Switzerland (CR = 23), Spain, Austria and the USA (CR = 22). From 2008 to 2016 the highest rate achieves Switzerland with a value of 24.6, followed by Belgium (CR = 18.1), Spain (CR = 16.7), Costa Rica (CR = 14.9) and Netherlands (CR = 14). Compared with this, the USA was placed at rank 13 (CR = 9,5). In summary, the present study represents the first density-equalizing map projection and in-depth scientometric analysis of the global research output on snakebites and its venoms. So it draws a sketch of the worldwide publication architecture and indicates that countries with a high incidence of snakebites and a low economical level still need to be empowered in carrying out research in this area.

World-wide architecture of osteoporosis research: density-equalizing mapping studies and gender analysis

OBJECTIVE

While research activities on osteoporosis grow constantly, no concise description of the global research architecture exists. Hence, we aim to analyze and depict the world-wide scientific output on osteoporosis combining bibliometric tools, density-equalizing mapping projections and gender analysis.

METHOD

Using the NewQIS platform, we analyzed all osteoporosis-related publications authored from 1900 to 2012 and indexed by the Web of Science. Bibliometric details were analyzed related to quantitative and semi-qualitative aspects.

RESULTS

The majority of 57 453 identified publications were original research articles. The USA and Western Europe dominated the field regarding cooperation activity, publication and citation performance. Asia, Africa and South America played a minimal role. Gender analysis revealed a dominance of male scientists in almost all countries except Brazil.

CONCLUSION

Although the scientific performance on osteoporosis is increasing world-wide, a significant disparity in terms of research output was visible between developed and low-income countries. This finding is particularly concerning since epidemiologic evaluations of future osteoporosis prevalences predict enormous challenges for the health-care systems in low-resource countries. Hence, our study underscores the need to address these disparities by fostering future research endeavors in these nations with the aim to successfully prevent a growing global burden related to osteoporosis.