Publications in epidemiology journals: Japanese perspectives

This paper presents information on Japan's contribution to reputable epidemiologic journals as compared to other leading countries. Ten journals in the field of epidemiology with high impact factors were selected. Articles published in these journals during the period between 1991 and 2000 were searched for the authors' affiliation using Medline database. We found that Japan contributed only 1.1% of the total number of articles published and ranked 14th among all the countries. The United States of America contributed 56.3% of the total and ranked top followed by the United Kingdom (7.6%), Canada (4.1%), and the Netherlands (3.5%). In a time trend analysis, Japan's share of articles did not increase significantly in the last decade (p = 0.41). Barriers in conducting epidemiologic research in Japan should be identified and appropriate measures should be taken accordingly.