Jamjoom Abdulhakim B, Gahtani Abdulhadi Y, Jamjoom Jude M, Sharab Belal M, Khogeer Yousuf K, Alshareef Ohood H, Alzahrani Moajeb T
Department of Neurosurgery, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences College of Medicine, Jeddah, SAU.
College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, SAU.
Cureus. 2024 Sep 6;16(9):e68842. doi: 10.7759/cureus.68842. eCollection 2024 Sep.
This review is an appraisal of the performance of clinical neuroscience research in Saudi Arabia based on the measurement of the Relative Specialization Index (RSI). The latter is an established quantitative performance indicator that determines whether a country has a relatively higher or lower share in world publications in a specialty than its overall part in the world total publications. The study aimed to assess the trends in the specialty's RSI, comparing it to other medical specialties in Saudi Arabia and to that of the top 50 countries worldwide in clinical neuroscience. SCImago Journal and Country Rank were used to determine the total articles and total citations for 46 medical specialties in Saudi Arabia and clinical neuroscience in the worldwide top 50 countries during 1996‑ 2023. The RSI was calculated for each medical specialty and each country. A positive or negative RSI implied that the specialty's share in the country's total documents or total citations was higher or lower than the average for the specialty worldwide. A steady increase in Saudi Arabia's total articles and total citations in clinical neuroscience was observed over the last 28 years. The RSI values, however, remained negative throughout except for limited periods (2003-2006 for total articles) and (1996 and 1998 for total citations). Compared to other medical specialties in Saudi Arabia, the specialization performance for clinical neuroscience was within the mid-range in total articles (ranking 30 out of 46 specialties) and the low range in total citations (ranking 39 out of 46 specialties). Saudi Arabia's worldwide ranking in clinical neuroscience based on total citations was 39; however, the country's ranking dropped to 45 when the RSI values were applied. Furthermore, clinical neuroscience was considered to have had a strong relative contribution (RSI ≥ 0.1) to the total articles in five countries (Italy, Austria, Germany, Japan, and Canada) and total citations in six countries (Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Finland). In conclusion, despite an increase in Saudi Arabia's total articles and total citations in clinical neuroscience over the years, the specialty's relative share of the total productivity in the country remains lower than the overall for the specialty worldwide. The performance of the specialty was within the mid-to-low range compared to the other 45 medical specialties in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the country's worldwide ranking based on total citations in the specialty dropped when the RSI was used. Clinical neuroscience researchers in Saudi Arabia are encouraged to improve the quality and quantity of their research productivity to be one of the leading medical specialties in Saudi Arabia.
本综述基于相对专业化指数（RSI）的衡量，对沙特阿拉伯临床神经科学研究的表现进行评估。相对专业化指数是一种既定的定量绩效指标，用于确定一个国家在某一专业领域的世界出版物中所占份额相对于其在世界总出版物中所占份额是较高还是较低。该研究旨在评估该专业的RSI趋势，并将其与沙特阿拉伯的其他医学专业以及全球临床神经科学领域排名前50的国家进行比较。使用Scimago期刊与国家排名数据库来确定1996年至2023年期间沙特阿拉伯46个医学专业以及全球排名前50的国家的临床神经科学的总文章数和总被引次数。计算了每个医学专业和每个国家的RSI。正或负的RSI意味着该专业在该国总文献或总被引次数中的份额高于或低于全球该专业的平均水平。在过去28年中，沙特阿拉伯临床神经科学的总文章数和总被引次数稳步增加。然而，除了有限的时间段（总文章数在2003 - 2006年）和（总被引次数在1996年和1998年）外，RSI值始终为负。与沙特阿拉伯的其他医学专业相比，临床神经科学在总文章数方面的专业化表现处于中等范围（在46个专业中排名第30），在总被引次数方面处于低范围（在46个专业中排名第39）。沙特阿拉伯在临床神经科学领域基于总被引次数的全球排名为第39位；然而，在应用RSI值时，该国排名降至第45位。此外，临床神经科学被认为对五个国家（意大利、奥地利、德国、日本和加拿大）的总文章数以及六个国家（卢森堡、奥地利、德国、加拿大、意大利和芬兰）的总被引次数有很强的相对贡献（RSI≥0.1）。总之，尽管多年来沙特阿拉伯临床神经科学的总文章数和总被引次数有所增加，但该专业在该国总产出中的相对份额仍低于全球该专业的总体水平。与沙特阿拉伯的其他45个医学专业相比，该专业的表现处于中低范围。此外，在使用RSI时，该国在该专业基于总被引次数的全球排名下降。鼓励沙特阿拉伯的临床神经科学研究人员提高其研究产出的质量和数量，使其成为沙特阿拉伯领先的医学专业之一。
