Abdelwahab Siddig Ibrahim, Taha Manal Mohamed Elhassan, Farasani Abdullah, Moshi Jobran M, Alshahrani Abrar Fahad, Assiri Ahmad, Alshahrani Saeed, Sultan Muhammad H, Sahli Khaled A, Shubaily Hussam M, Elrhima Omer Ahmed, Hassan Waseem
Medical Research Center, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Pediatr Radiol. 2025 Sep 3. doi: 10.1007/s00247-025-06388-y.
Authorship disparities in medical research are evident, particularly between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LICs/LMICs). These disparities have been analyzed in recent publications in Pediatric Radiology journal, noting that between 2019 and 2022, no manuscripts from LICs and only 13 manuscripts from LMICs were published. To our knowledge, an extensive review of publication trends in Pediatric Radiology journal and in radiology word containing journals, with regard to LICs/LMICs disparities, is currently lacking.
The objective was to assess historical trends and regional disparities in radiology research output and impact.
A three-pronged approach was used: (1) analysis of all original articles and reviews in Pediatric Radiology (1973-2024), distinguishing LMIC contributions with or without collaboration; (2) broader review of all Scopus-indexed journals with "radiology*" in the title (2001-2024), focusing on LMIC authorship; (3) comprehensive assessment of all Scopus-classified "Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging" publications (2021-2024), including output and citation data from 187 countries and various global regions.
In Pediatric Radiology, only 3.4% of the 8,907 articles involved LMIC collaborations, and 0.9% were authored by LMIC researchers. The number of annual independent LMIC contributions never exceeded 5 until recently. In journals containing "radiology" in the title, LMIC researchers contributed 2.3% of all articles through collaboration and 1.25% independently, with 2024 data revealing continued reliance on partnerships (476 collaborative vs. 276 independent LMIC articles). The USA contributed 53,474 publications (26.67%) and received 362,681 citations (33.75%), whereas China produced 44,851 publications (22.37%) with 237,884 citations (22.14%). Africa produced 4,375 publications and received 22,161 citations, Latin America contributed 4,150 publications with 30,061 citations, and South America generated 3,590 publications with 26,084 citations. The Middle East had the highest citation-per-publication ratio (6.1), followed by the Asia Pacific (5.7), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (5.3), South Asia (5.2), and Africa (5.1).
The data illustrate that LMICs remain underrepresented in radiology research. Targeted policy reforms, funding mechanisms, and capacity-building strategies are needed to enhance equity and support LMIC-driven radiology scholarship.
医学研究中的作者身份差异明显，尤其是在高收入国家（HICs）与低收入和中等收入国家（LICs/LMICs）之间。《儿科放射学》杂志最近的出版物分析了这些差异，指出在2019年至2022年期间，没有来自LICs的稿件发表，来自LMICs的稿件仅有13篇。据我们所知，目前缺乏对《儿科放射学》杂志以及放射学领域其他期刊中关于LICs/LMICs差异的出版趋势的广泛综述。
目的是评估放射学研究产出和影响力的历史趋势及区域差异。
采用了三管齐下的方法：（1）分析《儿科放射学》（1973 - 2024年）中的所有原创文章和综述，区分有合作和无合作情况下LMICs的贡献；（2）对标题中包含“radiology*”的所有Scopus索引期刊进行更广泛的综述（2001 - 2024年），重点关注LMICs作者身份；（3）对所有Scopus分类为“放射学、核医学与影像学”的出版物进行全面评估（2021 - 2024年），包括来自187个国家和不同全球区域的产出和引用数据。
在《儿科放射学》中，8907篇文章中只有3.4%涉及LMICs合作，0.9%由LMICs研究人员撰写。直到最近，每年LMICs的独立贡献数量从未超过5篇。在标题中包含“放射学”的期刊中，LMICs研究人员通过合作贡献了所有文章的2.3%，独立贡献了1.25%，2024年的数据显示对合作的持续依赖（476篇合作文章对276篇独立的LMICs文章）。美国发表了53474篇出版物（26.67%），获得362681次引用（33.75%），而中国发表了44851篇出版物（22.37%），获得237884次引用（22.14%）。非洲发表了4375篇出版物，获得22161次引用，拉丁美洲贡献了4150篇出版物，获得30061次引用，南美洲发表了3590篇出版物，获得26084次引用。中东地区的每篇出版物引用率最高（6.1），其次是亚太地区（5.7）、伊斯兰合作组织（5.3）、南亚（5.2）和非洲（5.1）。
数据表明，LMICs在放射学研究中的代表性仍然不足。需要有针对性的政策改革、资助机制和能力建设战略，以提高公平性并支持由LMICs推动的放射学学术研究。
