The landscape of biomedical research progress, challenges and prospects in Saudi Arabia-A systematic review

The main objective of this review was to synthesize the progress, challenges and prospects of biomedical research in Saudi Arabia in order to provide a holistic view to all stakeholders, such as policy makers, decision makers, and local researchers along with external collaborators interested in the field of biomedical research in this region.

A systematic review was conducted using the scientific literature for bibliometric studies in the field of biomedical research in Saudi Arabia that comprehensively covered past few decades using PubMed. The search was performed by combining verified Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms: "biomedical research", "bibliometrics", "Saudi Arabia" using boolean operator "AND". The data collection was done from January to June 2022 by both authors.

Out of 202 articles yielded from initial search, 13 articles met all of the inclusion criteria and were examined in details. The outcome of analysis showed that with the augmentation of Research and Development (R&D) globalization in Saudi Arabia, researchers are publishing internationally and collaborating globally, academic and research centers are enriching research environment and policies, and government is taking many initiatives to bolster biomedical research; but still more improvements needs to be achieved by Saudi Arabia to be in the list of strong competitive leading nations in the global biomedical research field.

There were various key challenges related to biomedical publications and bibliometric aspects for Saudi Arabia that included: publishing preferences, quality of publications, indexing services, international scientific community, and importantly barriers related to planning, funding, training, resources and support at institutional and national levels. This review provided some insights and recommendations to enhance biomedical research in Saudi Arabia that included: effective policies, health priorities, building infrastructures, greater investments, high incentives, skilled recruitment, competitive training and engagement of community that can play a vital role in this context.