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Neurosurgical research in Southeast Asia: A bibliometric analysis
Abdelsimar T Omar1, Kevin Ivan P Chan2, Erika P Ong3
1Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Neurosurgery, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines; College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines.
Objectives:
Bibliometric analysis can provide insight into the growth, development and dissemination of research in neurosurgery. Little work has been done to examine the role of country-specific characteristics affecting research productivity. We aimed to characterize andcompare the research productivity among SEA countries in terms of bibliometric indicesand determine associations with country-specific factors.
Methods:
We performed a systematic search of all articles by authors affiliated with a neurosurgical department in any of the Southeast Asian countries, indexed in 3 databases from inception to June 10, 2020. Bibliometric indices - number of publications, number of citations, average citations per publication, h-index, and the i-10-index - were computed for each country. Correlations between the indices and country-specific characteristics (population size, GDP per capita, percentage of GDP allocation to research and development (R&D), number of neurosurgeons, number of neurosurgeons per capita, and number of collaborations with non-SEA authors) were determined.
Results:
The number of publications showed an increasing trend up to 2019. Most studies were cohort studies (37%) or case reports or series (37%). Of the country-specific factors analyzed, only percentage of the GDP allocated to R&D was positively correlated with number of publications (p = 0.0004), total citations (p < 0.0001), H-index (p < 0.0001), and i(10)-index (p < 0.0001). Number of collaborations also positively correlated with the same indices.
Conclusion:
Our bibliometric analysis showed increasing contribution by neurosurgeons in the SEA region. Correlational analysis support the view that increased R&D budget allocation and international collaboration can improve neurosurgical research capacity and productivity.
