Centre for Global Health Research, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
J Glob Health. 2018 Dec;8(2):020701. doi: 10.7189/jogh.08.020701.
A substantial growth has been reported in Iran's number of clinical, biomedical, and public health research publications over the last 30 years. It is of interest to investigate whether this quantitative growth has also led to a larger number of papers with a high citation impact; to explore where the capacity for performing research lies; and which fields/institutions are lagging behind.
This was a bibliometric study. Web of Science Core Collection and its different tools were used for retrieving and analysing the publications. Information about the journals was found on Journal Citation Reports. Different types of collaborations across the highly-cited papers was investigated based on the affiliations, the characteristics of the language of the authors' names, and the authors' study and work backgrounds.
Iran's number of clinical, biomedical, and public health research publications has substantially increased since 2000, a surge was seen in 2007, and the figure reached a peak in 2011. 11% of the publications were in Pharmacology Pharmacy; and the majority originated in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Six of the 10 journals that had published the most were Iranian journals. H-index of publications had also increased over time (almost doubled between 2000 and 2010). 30.9% of the most-cited publications had only relied on Iranian resources (including 48 publications); had been published in journals with impact factors ranging between 0.4 and 8.3; and the majority were original basic sciences research.
In Iran, a great capacity for research lies in clinical, biomedical, and public health fields which can be strengthened with further investment. It is important to use this capacity in a way that would align with the national population health needs. It is also essential to consider the limitations of only relying on bibliometric tools for assessing health research activities. Finally, the Iranian science policy-makers are encouraged to (i) support the researchers and institutions that have proved research capacity; (ii) direct further resources towards research areas and/or institutions that are lagging behind; (iii) facilitate further international collaboration with the academics and/or institutions that have shown the capacity for conducting successful research projects with Iran.
在过去的 30 年里，伊朗的临床、生物医学和公共卫生研究出版物数量显著增长。有兴趣研究这种数量上的增长是否也导致了更多具有高引用影响力的论文；探索研究能力所在的地方；以及哪些领域/机构落后。
这是一项文献计量学研究。使用 Web of Science 核心合集及其不同工具检索和分析出版物。期刊信息在期刊引文报告中找到。根据隶属关系、作者姓名的语言特征以及作者的学习和工作背景，对高引用论文的不同类型的合作进行了调查。
自 2000 年以来，伊朗的临床、生物医学和公共卫生研究出版物数量大幅增加，2007 年出现激增，2011 年达到峰值。11%的出版物在药理学和药学领域；并且大部分来自德黑兰医科大学。发表最多论文的 10 种期刊中有 6 种是伊朗期刊。出版物的 H 指数也随着时间的推移而增加（2000 年至 2010 年几乎翻了一番）。30.9%的高引用论文仅依赖于伊朗资源（包括 48 篇论文）；发表在影响因子在 0.4 到 8.3 之间的期刊上；并且大部分是原始的基础科学研究。
在伊朗，临床、生物医学和公共卫生领域具有很大的研究能力，可以通过进一步投资来加强。重要的是，要以符合国家人口健康需求的方式利用这一能力。仅仅依靠文献计量工具来评估卫生研究活动也存在局限性，这一点也很重要。最后，鼓励伊朗科学政策制定者：（i）支持已经证明具有研究能力的研究人员和机构；（ii）将更多资源投向落后的研究领域和/或机构；（iii）促进与具有在伊朗开展成功研究项目能力的学术人员和/或机构的进一步国际合作。
