Institute for Population Health, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Syst Rev. 2021 Jan 2;10(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s13643-020-01552-x.
Population health (PH) research capacity and performance are essential pillars of evidence-based practice to help address health inequalities. Best evidence is provided by systematic reviews (SRs). None of the published bibliometric analysis specifically assess the production of SRs on PH in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The aim of our study is to investigate publication patterns and time trends of SRs reporting PH in the MENA region to evaluate the state of PH research performance in the region.
The study protocol was developed a priori (protocol registration number: CRD42017076736). PubMed was searched. Two independent reviewers screened 5747 identified articles. We investigated author affiliation and collaboration, yearly citations of the SRs and journal information. Joinpoint regression was used to explore these characteristics overtime.
Our meta-research included 387 SRs published between 2008 and 2016 which reported data on PH in 20 MENA countries. Publication of SRs increased over time in journals with impact factor < 4 and in the categories of yearly number of citations < 50 (p values ≤ 0.0024). Authors belonging to the region published increasingly (p value = 0.0001) over time. Thirty percent of the SRs were from authors solely from the region, while an additional 30% were from the region collaborating with Western country authors. Of these collaborative reviews, 79% were led by authors from the region. However, collaboration in the region (with the exclusion of collaboration with Western country authors) was rare (0.8%). These authors from the region published more in open-access journals while authors from Western countries collaborating or not with authors from the region published more in hybrid or non-open-access journals (p value < 0.0001). Collaboration between authors from MENA and Western countries led to published SRs in journals with impact factor ≥ 10. Systematic reviews with global coverage were published more by authors from Western countries, while SRs with country-level coverage were published by authors from the region (p value < 0.0001).
The incremental trend of PH SR publications on MENA likely reflects the ongoing improvement in research performance in the region. Authors from the region appear to be taking a lead role in conducting and disseminating MENA PH research. Open-access journals are a major contributor in facilitating MENA research dissemination.
PROSPERO registration number CRD42017076736.
人口健康 (PH) 研究能力和表现是循证实践的重要支柱，有助于解决健康不平等问题。最佳证据由系统评价 (SR) 提供。没有一项已发表的文献计量分析专门评估中东和北非 (MENA) 地区 PH 方面的 SR 产出。我们研究的目的是调查报告 MENA 地区 PH 的 SR 发表模式和时间趋势，以评估该地区 PH 研究绩效的状况。
研究方案预先制定（方案注册编号：CRD42017076736）。在 PubMed 中进行了搜索。两名独立的审查员筛选了 5747 篇确定的文章。我们调查了作者隶属关系和合作关系、SR 的年引文次数和期刊信息。使用 Joinpoint 回归来探索这些特征随时间的变化。
我们的元研究包括 2008 年至 2016 年间发表的 387 篇 SR，这些 SR 报告了 20 个 MENA 国家的 PH 数据。在影响因子 < 4 的期刊中，以及在每年引文数 < 50 的类别中，SR 的发表数量随着时间的推移而增加（p 值 ≤ 0.0024）。来自该地区的作者的发文量随着时间的推移而逐渐增加（p 值 = 0.0001）。30%的 SR 来自该地区的作者，另有 30%来自该地区与西方国家作者合作的 SR。在这些合作综述中，79%的综述由该地区的作者领导。然而，该地区的合作（不包括与西方国家作者的合作）很少（0.8%）。这些来自该地区的作者在开放获取期刊上发表的文章更多，而来自西方国家的作者合作或不合作发表的文章更多地发表在混合或非开放获取期刊上（p 值 < 0.0001）。来自 MENA 和西方国家的作者之间的合作导致发表在影响因子≥10 的期刊上的 SR。具有全球覆盖范围的系统评价更多地由来自西方国家的作者发表，而具有国家层面覆盖范围的 SR 则由该地区的作者发表（p 值 < 0.0001）。
在 MENA 地区发表 PH SR 的递增趋势可能反映了该地区研究绩效的持续提高。来自该地区的作者似乎在开展和传播 MENA PH 研究方面发挥了主导作用。开放获取期刊是促进 MENA 研究传播的主要贡献者。
PROSPERO 注册号 CRD42017076736。
