[Global funding for papers of excellence on smoking, 2010-2014]

The objective of this study was to investigate the funding received by papers of excellence on smoking at the global level between 2010 and 2014 through the Web of Science, and to find out if funding is associated with greater impact.

We searched the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) through the Web of Science platform on 20 May 2015 (typology consisting of originals and reviews for the period from 2010 to 2014). The search strategy was "smok*" OR "tobac*." To select the papers of excellence, we picked those that had an h index (i.e., number of articles having at least that many citations) from among the papers in the overall sample generated by the strategy.

Of the 193 papers of excellence on smoking that were identified, 158 had received funding from 279 different financing institutions that intervened 522 times. The funding came primarily from government agencies, private foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry. Public funding declined and private funding increased over the years included in the analysis. Receipt of funding was not associated with greater impact at a later date.

Most of the papers of excellence on smoking received external funding primarily from government agencies, private foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry. Public funding has decreased, while private funding has increased. Receipt of funding was not associated with greater impact at a later date.