A Bibliometric Measure of Translational Science

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics
• Research Evaluation
• Translational Science

Background:

• Growing demand from science funders for evidence of research broader impacts.
• Initiatives like the NIH's CTSA program aim to increase translational research.
• Need for reliable indicators to measure basic research influence on clinical research.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce a novel bibliometric indicator, the TS score.
• Provide a scalable, replicable, and valid method for assessing research impact.
• Estimate the extent to which basic research informs applied downstream research.

Main Methods:

• Development of the TS score, a bibliometric indicator.
• Focus on calculating the ratio of basic research use in applied versus basic contexts.
• Ensuring the indicator's simplicity, scalability, and reproducibility.

Main Results:

• The TS score is proposed as a new bibliometric indicator.
• It is designed to be simple, scalable, replicable, reliable, and valid.
• Applicable for estimating basic research's influence on downstream research.

Conclusions:

• The TS score offers a practical solution for tracking translational research.
• It assists in evaluating the impact of basic science on clinical applications.
• Useful for policy analysis and research evaluation in science funding and research institutions.