Contribution of Arab researchers to ophthalmology: a bibliometric and comparative analysis
Waleed M Sweileh, Samah W Al-Jabi, Yousef I Shanti, Ansam F Sawalha
and Sa’ed H Zyoud
Springerplus. 2015 Feb 1;4:42. doi: 10.1186/s40064-015-0806-0.
eCollection 2015. PMID: 25674499
Abstract
Through history, Arabs and Muslims have made valuable contribution to medicine and science. The main objective of this study was to assess the contribution of Arab researchers to ophthalmology using bibliometric indicators. Published articles in “Ophthalmology” authored by Arab researchers were screened and analyzed using ISI Web of Science database. Worldwide research productivity in ophthalmology was 216,921 documents while that from Arab countries; Israel, Turkey and Iran were 2083, 2932, 3027 and 859 documents respectively. Those from Arab countries were published in 85 peer-reviewed ophthalmology related journals with 280 (13.44%) documents published in Journal Francais d Ophtalmologie. Among Arab countries, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had the highest (828 (39.75%)) research output followed by Egypt (461 (22.13%)) and Tunisia 210 (10.08). Countries with highest collaboration with researchers in Arab world in ophthalmology research were USA; (397; 19.06%) followed by England (92; 4.42%) and Spain (91; 4.37%). The most research productive organization in Arab countries was King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital (396; 19.01%). Ophthalmology articles authored or co-authored by an Arab researcher had a total citation f 21098 with an average citation of 10.13 per document and an h-index of 51. In conclusion, the present data show promising increase but relatively low ophthalmology research productivity from Arab countries. Wide variation in research productivity do exists. Compared with other non-Arab countries in the Middle East, Arab countries showed lesser ophthalmology research activity than Israel and Turkey but higher than that in Iran.
Keywords: Bibliometric; Ophthalmology; Arab world; ISI Web of Science
Contribution of each Arab country in ophthalmology research output*
_________________________________________________________________________
Number of documents
Country N (%) = 2083 (100%)**
_________________________________________________________________________
Saudi Arabia 828 (39.75)
Egypt 461 (22.13)
Tunisia 210 (10.08)
Lebanon 184 (8.83)
Morocco 133 (6.39)
Oman 98 (4.71)
Kuwait 56 (2.69)
United Arab Emirates 49 (2.35)
Jordan 47 (2.26)
Algeria 22 (1.06)
Syria 16 (0.77)
Qatar 15 (0.72)
Sudan 11 (0.53)
Bahrain 7 (0.34)
Libya 7 (0.34)
Iraq 6 (0.29)
Yemen 5 (0.24)
Comoros 2 (0.1)
Somalia 2 (0.1)
Mauritania 0
Djibouti 0
_______________________________________________________________________
Reference: Sweileh et al. SpringerPlus (2015) 4:42. DOI 10.1186/s40064-015-0806-0.*
Total exceeds 100% because of overlap in some documents among more than
one Arab country.**
Top 10 active organizations in the field of ophthalmology in Arab countries*
_____________________________________________________________________
Number of documents
SCRa Organization N = 2083 (100%) Country
_______________________________________________________________________
1st King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital 430 (20.64) KSA
2nd King Saud University 296 (14.21) KSA
3rd American University Beirut 148 (7.11) Lebanon
4th Cairo University 100 (4.8) Egypt
5th King Faisal Specialist Hospital
Research Centre 78 (3.75) KSA
6th Research Institute of Ophthalmology 69 (3.31) Egypt
7th King Abdulaziz University Hospital 64 (3.07) KSA
8th Ain Shams University 50 (2.4) Egypt
9th University Alexandria 47 (2.26) Egypt
10th The Eye Center 42 (2.02) KSA
________________________________________________________________________
Abbreviations:
SCR = Standard Competition Ranking; KSA = Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Reference: Springerplus. 2015 Feb 1;4:42. doi: 10.1186/s40064-015-0806-0.
eCollection 2015. PMID: 25674499.* 4 45 ew