Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2016): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

3 - A Decade of Biomedical Research in West Africa (2005–14): A Bibliometric Analysis of the Ten Most Productive Countries in MEDLINE

by Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu
https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v14i1.1507
Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5225-2934

Corresponding Author(s) : Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu

willieezi@yahoo.com

Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Vol. 14 No. 1 (2016): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

Abstract

The objective of this research is to determine the quantity and quality of publications in biomedical research in top-producing countries in West Africa during 2005–14 as well as the characteristics of the journals and collaborative evidence in the area. Data was drawn from MEDLINE/ PubMed and Google Scholar while the impact factors of the journals were retrieved from the SCImago Journal and Country Rank portal. Quantity of publications was measured by counting the number of publications attributable to a country while h-index was extracted to measure quality. Productivity was analysed by sorting the data according to their first authors, journals and publication dates, and analysed using MS Excel and LOTKA®. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali had the highest number of publications. In respect of productivity, apart from Côte d’Ivoire that had an α value less than 2, indicating a higher level of productivity, all other countries had an α value greater than 2. West African Journal of Medicine is the only journal of West African origin in the list of top ten journals where the authors from the sub-region published their papers, and it ranked tenth. Nigeria and Ghana published a lot more of their research papers in local journals in comparison with other countries, but these journals have very low mean impact factors. This study reinforces the need for improved research collaboration between the big and small countries.

Keywords

biomedical research West Africa journals and publication
Nwagwu, W. E. (2022). 3 - A Decade of Biomedical Research in West Africa (2005–14): A Bibliometric Analysis of the Ten Most Productive Countries in MEDLINE: by Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v14i1.1507
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Adomi E. and Mordi C., 2003, ‘Publication in foreign journals and promotion of academics in Nigeria’, Learned Publishing 16 (4): 12–26.
  2. Afifi, M., 2007, ‘Egyptian biomedical publications in PubMed: 1996-2005’, Journal of Egyptian Public Health Association 82: 91–104.
  3. Ajao, O.G. and Lawoyin, T.O., 2005, ‘Guidelines for assessment of publications for contribution to scholarship: a view point’, West African Journal of Medicine 24: 338–41.
  4. Ajiferuke, I., Burell, Q. and Tague, J., 1988, ‘Collaborative coefficient: a single measure of the degree of collaboration in research’, Scientometrics 14 (5–6): 421–33.
  5. Bakoush, O., Al-Tubuly, A.A., Ashammakhi, N. and Elkhammas, E.A., 2007, ‘Pub- Med Medical Publications from Libya’, Libyan Journal of Medicine 2: 18–24.
  6. Bartneck, C. and Kokkelmans, S., 2011, ‘Detecting h-index manipulation through self-citation analysis’, Scientometrics 87 (1): 85–98.
  7. Bollen, J., Van de Sompel, H., Hagberg, A. and Chute, R., 2009, ‘A principal component analysis of 39 scientific impact measures’, PLoS ONE 4 (6): e6022. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0006022.
  8. Bordons, M., Fernandez, M.T. and Gomez, I., 2002, ‘Advantages and limitations in the use of impact factor measures for the assessment of research performance in a peripheral country’, Scientometrics: 195–206.
  9. Boshoff, N. 2009. Neo-colonialism and Research Collaboration in Central Africa.Scientometrics 81:413–434.
  10. Boshoff, N. 2010. South-South research collaboration of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Scientometrics 84(2):481-503.
  11. Chuang, K., Chuang, Y., Ho, M. and Ho, Y., 2011, ‘Bibliometric analysis of public health research in Africa: the overall trend and regional comparisons’, South African Journal of Science 107(5/6)e: 6pp.
  12. Cronin, B. 2001. Hypeterauthorship: A Postmodern Perversion or Evidence of a Structural Shift in Scholarly Communication. Journal of American Society for Information Science 52(7), 558-569.
  13. European Medical Research Councils, 2011, A Stronger Biomedical Research for a Better European Future. Available at: www.esf.org, accessed 18 June 2012.
  14. Ferrara, E. and Romero, A., 2013, ‘Scientific impact evaluation and the effect of self-citations: mitigating the bias by discounting the h-index’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 64 (11): 2332–39.
  15. Gondwe, M. and Kavinya, T., 2008, ‘An analysis of Malawi’s publication productivity’,Malawi Medical Journal 20: 90–92.
  16. Grant, J.A., Shelby, E.W. and Kenneth, H.B., 2010, ‘Bibliographic analysis of scientific research on selected topics in public health nutrition in West Africa: a review of articles published from 1998 to 2008’, Global Public Health 5 (51 Suppl.1): S42–S57.
  17. Harande, Y., 2011, ‘Exploring the literature of diabetes in Nigeria: a bibliometric study’, African Journal of Diabetes Medicine 19 (2)e: 4pp.
  18. Hart R.L., 2000, ‘Co-authorship in the academic library literature: a survey of attitudes and behaviour’, Journal of Academic Librarianship 26 (5): 339–45.
  19. Hirsch, J.E., 2005, ‘An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output’,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (46): 16569–72.
  20. Hirsc , J.E., 2007, ‘Does the h-index have predictive power?’, Proceedings of theNational Academy of Science 104 (49): 19193–98.
  21. Hofman, K.J, Kanyengo, C.W., Rapp, B. and Kotzin, S., 2009, ‘Mapping the health research landscape in sub-Saharan Africa: a pilot study of trends in biomedical publications’, Journal of Medical Library Association 97: 41–44.
  22. Jonathan, A., Christopher, K. and Daniel, H., 2010, Global Research Report: Africa.
  23. USA: Evidence, a Thomson Reuters Business.
  24. King, J., 1987, ‘A review of bibliometric and other science indicators and their role in research evaluation’, Journal of Information Science 13: 261–76.
  25. King, J.T., 2000, ‘How many neurosurgeons does it take to write an article? Authorship proliferation in neurosurgical research’, Neurosurgery 47: 435–40.
  26. Lawani, S.M., 1980, ‘Quality, Collaboration and Citations in Cancer Research: A Bibliometric Study’, PhD Dissertation, Florida State University.
  27. Lupton, D., 2012, Medicine as Culture: Illness, Disease and the Body in Western Societies, 3ʳᵈ edition, London: Sage.
  28. Meho, L.I., 2007, ‘The rise and rise of citation analysis’, Physics World January: 32–36.
  29. Moed, H.F., De Bruin R.E. and van Leeuwen, T.N., 1995, ‘New bibliometrics tools for the assessment of national research performance: database description, overview of indicators, and first applications’, Scientometrics 133: 381–422.
  30. Nederhof, A.J. and Zwaan, R.A., 1991, ‘Quality judgments of journals as indicators of research performance in the humanities and the social and behavioural sci- ences’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science 42 (5): 332–40.
  31. Noden, B.H., 2011, ‘Biomedically-focused research productivity by Namibian authors and institutions 1995–2010’, PROGRESS Multidisciplinary Research Journal 1 (1): 1–17.
  32. Nwagwu, W., 2005, ‘Bibliometric Analysis of Pattern of Authorship in the Biomedical Literature of Nigeria’, Doctoral thesis, Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
  33. Nwagwu, W., 2006, ‘Bibliometric analysis of quantity and quality of Nigeria’s Bio- medical Literature’, LIBRES 16: 1–23.
  34. Nwagwu, W., 2007, ‘Patterns of authorship in the biomedical literature of Nigeria’, LIBRES 17 (1): e. Available at http://libres.curtin.edu.au/libres17n1/Nwagwu- Patterns_Final_rev.pdf, accessed 10 July 2012.
  35. Nwagwu W. and Ibitola T. 2010. Aspects of Size and Geography of African Cyberspace. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science Vol. 15, No.3: 19-34.
  36. Nwagwu, W.E., 2013, ‘Open access initiatives in Africa – structure, incentives and disincentives’, Journal of Academic Librarianship 39: 3–11.
  37. Ondari-Okemwa, E., 2007, ‘Scholarly publishing in sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty- first century: challenges and opportunities’. Available at: http://firstmonday.
  38. org/htbin/cgiwrapbin/ojs/index.php/fm/rt/printerFriendly/1966/1842,accessed 10 October 2010.
  39. Owolabi, M.O., Bower, J.H. and Ogunniyi, A., 2007, ‘Mapping Africa’s way intoprominence in the field of neurology’, Archives of Neurology 64: 1696–700.
  40. Pickstone, J.V., 2000, Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology and Medicine,
  41. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  42. Porter, R., 2004, Blood and Guts. A Short History of Medicine, London: Penguin.
  43. Rahman, M. and Fukui, T., 2003, ‘Biomedical publication – global profile and trend’,Public Health 117: 274–80.
  44. Quirke, V. and Gaudillière, J., 2008, ‘The era of biomedicine: science, medicine, and public health
  45. in Britain and France after the Second World War’, Medical History 52 (4): 441–52.
  46. Ramos, J.M., Padilla, S., Masia, M. and Gutierrez, F., 2008, ‘A bibliometric analysis of tuberculosis research indexed in PubMed, 1997-2006’, International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases 12 (12): 1461–68.
  47. SCImago, 2012, Journal and Country Rank (2012). Available at http://www.scimagojr. com/journalrank.php, accessed 12 April 2013.
  48. Subramanyam, K., 1983, ‘Bibliometric studies of research collaboration: a review’,Journal of Information Science 6 (1): 33.
  49. Sweet, M.A., Dudgeon, P., McCallum, K. and Ricketson, M.D., 2014, ‘Decolonising practices: can journalism learn from health care toimprove indigenous health outcomes?’, Medical Journal of Australia 200 (11): 626–27.
  50. Tijssen R.J.W., 2007, ‘Africa’s contribution to the worldwide research literature: new analytical perspectives, trends, and performance indicators’, Scientometrics 71(2): 303–27.
  51. United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Population Division, 2011, World Population Prospects DEMOBASE extract. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/may/06/world-population- country-un#data, accessed 28 July 2012.
  52. Uthman, O.A., 2008, ‘HIV/AIDS in Nigeria: a bibliometric analysis’, Biomed Central Infectious Diseases 8: 19–23.
  53. Uthman, O.A., 2010, ‘Pattern and determinants of HIV research productivity in sub- Saharan Africa: bibliometric analysis of 1981 to 2009’, BMC Infectious Diseases 10: 47e. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17927837, accessed 7 July 2011.
  54. Uthman, A.O. and Uthman, M.B., 2007, ‘Geography of African biomedical publi- cations: an analysis of 1996–2005 PubMed papers’, International Journal of Health Geography 6: 46e. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub- med/17927837, accessed 23 June 2012.
  55. Weingart, P., 2005, ‘Impact of bibliometrics upon the science system: inadvertent consequences?’, Scientometrics 62 (1): 117–31.
  56. van Leeuwen TN, Moed HF, Tijssen RJ, Visser MS, van Raan AF (2001). Language biases in the coverage of the Science Citation Index and its consequences for international comparisons of national research performance. Scientometrics,
  57. : 335-346.
Read More

Author Biography

Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu

Head, CODESRIA Documentation, Information and Communication Centre (CODICE), Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, Dakar, Senegal. Research Associate, Department of Information Science, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.

Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 1606 Download : 147

Similar Articles

<< < 23 24 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.