Comparative Bibliometric Analysis of Established and Emerging Databases on Salivary Biomarkers for Early Oral Cancer Diagnosis.

BACKGROUND

Salivary biomarkers play an important role in the preventive strategy for oral cancer detection at an early stage. The aim of this study was to carry out a comparative quantitative analysis of the research material on the topic in one established database, Scopus and another emerging database, Dimensions.

METHOD

An electronic search was performed in Scopus and Dimensions in April 2024 with the search subjects "Saliva," "Biomarkers," "Diagnosis," and "Oral Cancer." The retrieved data were analyzed using Biblioshiny for RStudio and MS Excel.

RESULT

The search yielded 229 and 158 documents in Scopus and Dimensions, respectively. The data were studied to understand the coverage, concentration, and diversion of research articles. The analysis revealed high singularity index for Scopus and low overlap percentage between the two databases. Scopus was found to have higher citation count per article, however, the citation correlation between Scopus and Dimensions was found to be strong. Author productivity was found to be low in both the databases.

CONCLUSION

Scopus and Dimensions vary in their scope, volume of data, and coverage policies. Both the databases have complimentary coverage on salivary biomarkers for oral cancer diagnosis. However, Scopus has a greater number of articles, sources, and citations resulting in better coverage of the topic.