Research in congenital heart disease: a comparative bibliometric analysis between developing and developed countries

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly, affecting 1 % of live births. The field of pediatric cardiology has witnessed major advances over the past 25 years triggered by research initiatives focusing on CHD. However, large disparities exist in research capabilities between Arab developing nations and the developed nations. This study used bibliometric analysis to assess the contribution of the Arab countries to CHD research. To identify articles on CHD published in the Arab countries, the United States, and Europe, a systematic search was run on MEDLINE, PubMed, and Scopus. The Arab countries, with an estimated population of 362 million, published 530 research articles addressing CHD in the last 25 years (average, 1.5 articles/10(6) population). This compares with 12,936 research articles published in the United States (average, 41 articles/10(6) population) and 12,260 published in Europe (average, 24.3 articles/10(6) population). Basic research relating to genetics and animal models of CHD is emerging sparsely in the Arab world, with few articles published in high-impact-factor journals. The Arab world research output in the field of CHD per capita is substantially low, estimated to be 29 times less than in developed countries. Despite the minimal increase in published research articles in global periodicals, most of the research relating to CHD continues to be far from innovative. Regional collaborations with international linkage are starting to evolve. The research facilities in the Arab countries need to increase substantially in research and infrastructure funding to keep up with the pace of research in developing countries.