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Arab nations lagging behind other Middle Eastern countries in biomedical research: a comparative study.

Benamer, Hani T S and Bakoush, Omran LU (2009) In BMC Medical Research Methodology 9(Apr 17).
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Analysis of biomedical research and publications in a country or group of countries is used to monitor research progress and trends. This study aims to assess the performance of biomedical research in the Arab world during 2001-2005 and to compare it with other Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. METHODS: PubMed and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-expanded) were searched systematically for the original biomedical research publications and their citation frequencies of 16 Arab nations and three non-Arab Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Israel and Turkey), all of which are classified as middle or high income countries. RESULTS: The 16 Arab countries together have 5775 and 14,374 original research articles listed by PubMed and... (More)
BACKGROUND: Analysis of biomedical research and publications in a country or group of countries is used to monitor research progress and trends. This study aims to assess the performance of biomedical research in the Arab world during 2001-2005 and to compare it with other Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. METHODS: PubMed and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-expanded) were searched systematically for the original biomedical research publications and their citation frequencies of 16 Arab nations and three non-Arab Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Israel and Turkey), all of which are classified as middle or high income countries. RESULTS: The 16 Arab countries together have 5775 and 14,374 original research articles listed by PubMed and SCI-expanded, respectively, significantly less (p < 0.001) than the other three Middle Eastern countries (25,643 and 49,110). The Arab countries also scored less when the data were normalized to population, gross domestic product (GDP), and GDP/capita. The publications from the Arab countries also have a significantly lower (p < 0.001) citation frequency. CONCLUSION: The Arab world is producing fewer biomedical publications of lower quality than other Middle Eastern countries. Studies are needed to clarify the causes and to propose strategies to improve the biomedical research status in Arab countries. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Medical Research Methodology
volume
9
issue
Apr 17
article number
26
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000265846100001
  • pmid:19374747
  • scopus:65449190118
  • pmid:19374747
ISSN
1471-2288
DOI
10.1186/1471-2288-9-26
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
46cef9cd-4b4e-4919-b51f-9a09134efaf4 (old id 1392028)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19374747?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:15:19
date last changed
2022-02-06 02:08:30
@article{46cef9cd-4b4e-4919-b51f-9a09134efaf4,
  abstract     = {{BACKGROUND: Analysis of biomedical research and publications in a country or group of countries is used to monitor research progress and trends. This study aims to assess the performance of biomedical research in the Arab world during 2001-2005 and to compare it with other Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. METHODS: PubMed and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-expanded) were searched systematically for the original biomedical research publications and their citation frequencies of 16 Arab nations and three non-Arab Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Israel and Turkey), all of which are classified as middle or high income countries. RESULTS: The 16 Arab countries together have 5775 and 14,374 original research articles listed by PubMed and SCI-expanded, respectively, significantly less (p &lt; 0.001) than the other three Middle Eastern countries (25,643 and 49,110). The Arab countries also scored less when the data were normalized to population, gross domestic product (GDP), and GDP/capita. The publications from the Arab countries also have a significantly lower (p &lt; 0.001) citation frequency. CONCLUSION: The Arab world is producing fewer biomedical publications of lower quality than other Middle Eastern countries. Studies are needed to clarify the causes and to propose strategies to improve the biomedical research status in Arab countries.}},
  author       = {{Benamer, Hani T S and Bakoush, Omran}},
  issn         = {{1471-2288}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{Apr 17}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Medical Research Methodology}},
  title        = {{Arab nations lagging behind other Middle Eastern countries in biomedical research: a comparative study.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-9-26}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1471-2288-9-26}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}