scholarly journals Research Focuses and Trends in Multiple Sclerosis: A Scientometric Analysis

Author(s):  
Yuh-Shan Ho ◽  
◽  
Maryam Shekofteh ◽  
Abdorreza Naser Moghadasi ◽  
◽  
...  

The purpose of this scientometric study is to analyze the multiple sclerosis research in Science Citation Index-Expanded from 1992 to 2019 in order to determine the top features, trends, and topics. Articles related to multiple sclerosis in the section of title, abstract, keywords, and KeyWords Plus were retrieved from the Science Citation Index-Expanded and analyzed based on various indicators and characteristics. There was a significant increase in the number of articles from 408 in 1992 to 2756 in 2019. A sum of 42,112 articles related to multiple sclerosis has been published in 3,032 journals, which were classified among the 131 Web of Science categories. The top two categories were clinical neurology and neurosciences. Multiple Sclerosis Journal published the most articles. Articles published in the Neurology journal also had the highest citation per publication. Most of the articles were in English, while 23 other languages were used in the articles. Articles in Japanese and English with 7 and 6.9 authors have a higher average of authors than articles in other languages. English language articles received more citations than articles in other languages. The frequency of used keywords in title, abstract, author keywords, and KeyWords Plus analysis showed that “Therapy”, “disability”, “neurodegeneration”, “demyelination” and “MRI” show an increasing trend in the multiple sclerosis articles. The result of this study can help the policy makers and researchers realize the panorama of multiple sclerosis research and design future research.

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e035269
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina De Castro ◽  
Ivan Ortega-Deballon

IntroductionNodding syndrome (NS) is an encephalopathy of unknown origin that affects children aged between 3 and 15 years old. Cases have been reported since the 1950 in Tanzania and South Sudan, the most heavily affected population is the Acholi community in Uganda. In response to the high incidence of the disease, the Ugandan Government has developed a management algorithm, but access to such measures in affected communities is limited. There is little funding for research on the disease, consequently, few studies have been conducted to date. Nevertheless, the number of scientific publications on NS has increased since 2013, reporting several aetiological hypotheses, management algorithms and cases of stigmatisation; however, none has obtained conclusive results.This document describes a protocol for a scoping review of NS to date aimed at obtaining a broad overview of the disease. The results will identify gaps in knowledge in order to better guide future research, intervention strategies, health policies in areas at risk and cooperation and development programmes.Methods and analysisTo identify the relevant data, we will conduct a literature search using the electronic databases PubMed/Medline, Embase, Social Science Citation Index Scopus, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Literatura Latinoamericana y del Caribe en Ciencias de la Salud (LILACS), Social Science Citation Index Expanded and The Cochrane Library. We will also include grey literature. The search strategy will be designed by a librarian.Two members of the team will work independently to identify studies for inclusion and perform data extraction. The search results will be assessed by two independent reviewers and data from the included studies will be charted and summarised in duplicate. The data will be summarised in tables and figures to present the research landscape and describe and map gaps.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not required. The scoping review will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews andMeta-Analyses-ScR guidelines. The results will be disseminated at scientific congresses and meetings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julián Monge-Nájera ◽  
Yuh Shan Ho

Nicaragua is a small country in Central America and little has been published about its scientific output. Most of its publications available in international databases are about medicine and are produced by Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (Managua) as part of international collaborative teams. In this article we analyzed in more depth, and for a longer period than any previous study, the presence of Nicaraguan publications in the Science Citation Index Expanded until January, 2016. In total, 837 Nicaraguan articles were published in 456 journals (the top journal is the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene). Internationally collaborative articles with 94 countries accounted for 92 % of articles, while only 8.5 % were exclusively Nicaraguan. The most cited article described the use of ketoconazole to treat Leishmaniasis. The authors with more publications in the database were A. Balmaseda, R. Peña, W. Strauch, and F. Bucardo. The top cited, exclusively Nicaraguan articles dealt with health problems, forest tenure, and food production. The article citation lifespan is surprisingly long: over 70 years. Most citations start seven years after publication and are not recorded by the Science Citation Index, which for that reason cannot be considered valid to evaluate the impact of Nicaraguan research. The predominance of English publications may reflect a bias of the database itself. Probably most of the scientific production of Nicaraguan scientists is published in Spanish, in many regional journals not included in the SCI-EXPANDED. Nicaraguan research centers lack appropriate infrastructure, staffing and financial resources: future achievements for Nicaraguan science should include a fair presence of female researchers, peer-to-peer level participation in international teams, and less dominance of health technologies.


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