bims-evares Biomed News
on Evaluation of research
Issue of 2019–02–24
thirteen papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. Small research teams 'disrupt' science more radically than large ones.
  2. An EigenFactor-weighted power mean generalization of the Euclidean Index.
  3. Embrace teams large and small to foster the health of research.
  4. Mapping Bioethics in Latin America: History, Theoretical Models, and Scientific Output.
  5. Trainee Contribution Is Not Associated With Citation Frequency: A Retrospective Study.
  6. Selective citation in the literature on the hygiene hypothesis: a citation analysis on the association between infections and rhinitis.
  7. Gender differences amongst board members of endocrinology and diabetes societies.
  8. Seizure and epilepsy publication in nonneurology journals.
  9. [The content of publications in the Netherlands Journal of Dentistry - an analysis of patterns over time].
  10. [Half a century of ANALES DE PEDIATRÍA. Evolution of its main bibliometric indicators in the Web of Science and Scopus international databases].
  11. The Quality of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Erectile Dysfunction Treatment and Management Published in the Sexual Medicine Literature.
  12. Mapping diabetes research in Middle Eastern countries during 2007-2013: A scientometric analysis.
  13. Bibliometric analysis of the brazilian periodical "journal of biochemistry education".
  1. Nature. 2019 Feb;566(7744): 330-332
    Small research teams 'disrupt' science more radically than large ones.
    Pierre Azoulay.
      
    Keywords:  Publishing; Research management
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00350-3
  2. PLoS One. 2019 ;14(2): e0212760
    An EigenFactor-weighted power mean generalization of the Euclidean Index.
    M Ryan Haley.
      This paper proposes a weighted generalization of the recently developed Euclidean Index. The weighting mechanism is designed to reflect the reputation of the journal within which an article appears. The weights are constructed using the Eigenfactor Article Influence percentiles scores. The rationale for assigning weights is that citations in more prestigious journals should be adjusted to logically reflect higher costs of production and higher vetting standards, and to partially counter several pragmatic issues surrounding truncated citation counts. Simulated and empirical demonstrations of the proposed approaches are included, which emphasize the flexibility and efficacy of the proposed generalization.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212760
  3. Nature. 2019 Feb;566(7744): 295
    Embrace teams large and small to foster the health of research.
      
    Keywords:  Authorship; Publishing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00558-3
  4. J Bioeth Inq. 2019 Feb 18.
    Mapping Bioethics in Latin America: History, Theoretical Models, and Scientific Output.
    Lucas F Garcia, Marcia S Fernandes, Jonathan D Moreno, Jose R Goldim.
       OBJECTIVE: To present a narrative review of the history of bioethics in Latin America and of scientific output in this interdisciplinary field.
    METHODS: This was a mixed-methods study.
    RESULTS: A total of 1458 records were retrieved, of which 1167 met the inclusion criteria. According to the Web of Science classification, the predominant topics of study were medical ethics (n= 488), social sciences and medicine (n= 354), and environmental and public health topics (n= 279). Four themes of bioethics output in the Latin American literature have emerged: (a) issues involving the beginning and end of life, (b) ethics in human research, (c) patient-provider relationships, and (d) ethics training for health professionals.
    CONCLUSION: Although bioethics is a growing interdisciplinary field in Latin America, its academic impact is still very low, and programmes are highly concentrated in large urban centres in a few countries. Challenges includes the regional and international impact of local scientific output.
    Keywords:  History of bioethics; Latin America; Latin American bioethics; Mixed method research
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-019-09903-7
  5. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2019 Jan 28. pii: S0278-2391(19)30097-7. [Epub ahead of print]
    Trainee Contribution Is Not Associated With Citation Frequency: A Retrospective Study.
    Hossein E Jazayeri, Brian R Carr, Kevin C Lee, Sung-Kiang Chuang, Anh D Le, Rabie M Shanti.
       PURPOSE: Publication citation frequency is a measure of scientific influence. The purpose of this study was to measure the association between trainee involvement in publications and citation frequency.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from January to December 2010 was conducted. For each included publication, the study topic and design were recorded. The primary predictor variable was trainee involvement (yes or no). For the purpose of our study, the term "trainee" encompassed dental students, graduate (non-dental) students, oral and maxillofacial surgery residents, and non-oral and maxillofacial surgery residents, as indicated by author affiliations listed in each article. The outcome variable was the number of citations accumulated between 2010 and 2017. Descriptive statistics were computed. Analyses of variance were performed to compare citation distribution among study types and designs. Student t tests and χ2 tests were performed.
    RESULTS: The sample consisted of 111 publications, of which 85 (76.6%) had at least 1 trainee author. Among all publications, the mean number of citations was significantly different across study designs (P = .03), with case reports earning the lowest number of citations on average (mean, 14.9 citations). Trainee publications had significantly different distributions of study topics (P = .02) and designs (P < .01). Among publications with a trainee author, the most common topic was pathology (37%) and the most common study design was a case report (45%). Despite the higher proportion of case reports, the mean number of citations between trainee (mean, 30.4 citations) and non-trainee (mean, 30.5 citations) publications was not significantly different (P = .99).
    CONCLUSIONS: Including trainees does not alter the citation frequency of the articles published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. This finding is encouraging to both academic surgeons and their trainees, as a higher volume of students and residents can be engaged in research while preserving the influence of the published works.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2019.01.022
  6. BMJ Open. 2019 Feb 19. 9(2): e026518
    Selective citation in the literature on the hygiene hypothesis: a citation analysis on the association between infections and rhinitis.
    Bram Duyx, Miriam J E Urlings, Gerard M H Swaen, Lex M Bouter, Maurice P Zeegers.
       OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess the occurrence and determinants of selective citation in scientific publications on Strachan's original hygiene hypothesis. His hypothesis states that lack of exposure to infections in early childhood increases the risk of rhinitis.
    SETTING: Web of Science Core Collection.
    PARTICIPANTS: We identified 110 publications in this network, consisting of 5551 potential citations.
    PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Whether a citation occurs or not, measured and analysed according to the preregistered protocol.
    RESULTS: We found evidence for citation bias in this field: publications supportive of the hypothesis were cited more often than non-supportive publications (OR adjusted for study design [adjOR] 2.2, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.1), and the same was the case for publications with mixed findings (adjOR 3.1, 95% CI 2.2 to 4.5). Other relevant determinants for citation were type of exposure, specificity, journal impact factor, authority and self-citation. Surprisingly, prospective cohort studies were cited less often than other empirical studies.
    CONCLUSIONS: There is clear evidence for selective citation in this research field, and particularly for citation bias.
    Keywords:  epidemiology; ethics (see medical ethics); immunology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026518
  7. Endocrine. 2019 Feb 20.
    Gender differences amongst board members of endocrinology and diabetes societies.
    Yamna Waseem, Samar Mahmood, Rabbia Siddiqi, Muhammad Shariq Usman, Kaneez Fatima, Christine Acob, Faisal Khosa.
       PURPOSE: Although women's status has shown marked improvement over the years in many areas, women still face a gender bias, especially in the workforce. Despite the best efforts of organizations to promote diversity and equality, women still dominate the lower-paying administrative ranks while men continue to dominate at the executive level. The present study examines gender disparity in the leadership positions in the national and international endocrinology and diabetes societies across the globe.
    METHODS: We first composed a list of Diabetes and Endocrinology societies from online databases, including the International Diabetes Federation, European Society of Endocrinology, and other similar online directories. The Scopus database author search was used to find the total number of publications, publication range (in years), h-indices, number of citations, and years of active research of each member.
    RESULTS: Our study included 524 board members of whom 31.3% (164/524) were women. The institutional academic rank of 310 of the total board members was found. The proportion of women in higher-faculty ranks (Assistant Professor, Associate Professors, and Professors) is much lower than males. Female endocrinologists also have fewer publications, citations, and years of active research.
    CONCLUSIONS: Endocrinology is becoming a female-predominant subspecialty of internal medicine. As women are becoming a more significant portion of the endocrinology workforce, it is imperative to study and mitigate gender differences and disparities to optimize the endocrinology workforce.
    Keywords:  Diabetes; Endocrinology; Female; Gender; Gender disparity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-019-01861-9
  8. Epilepsy Behav. 2019 Feb 16. pii: S1525-5050(18)31007-2. [Epub ahead of print]93 7-11
    Seizure and epilepsy publication in nonneurology journals.
    Victoria S S Wong, Matthew Stevenson, Jared Mott, Kinshuk Sahaya.
       PURPOSE: The prevalence and characteristics of seizure and epilepsy research published in nonneurology journals are unknown. Characterizing this published research allows for insight into the relevance of seizures and epilepsy in other specialties and may increase opportunity for cross-specialty collaboration.
    METHODS: In this observational study, we reviewed the top five highly cited clinical journals within eleven specialties in the InCites Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database (2016). For each specialty, we collected 2013-2017 PubMed data on publications with MeSH Major Topic of "seizures," "epilepsy," or "status epilepticus." Medical subject headings (MeSH) in PubMed are standardized terms assigned by subject analysts. MeSH Major Topic identifies articles in which a specified topic is the major focus of the article. We also retrieved author country and medical specialty affiliations. We analyzed whether author specialty affiliation was 1) concordant with journal medical specialty, 2) neurology-related, or 3) other.
    RESULTS: Articles on "seizures," "epilepsy," or "status epilepticus" had the following prevalence in specialty clinical journals: cardiac and cardiovascular systems (0.01%); clinical neurology (5.34%); critical care medicine (0.20%); emergency medicine (0.47%); general and internal medicine (0.44%); neuroimaging (2.05%); neurosurgery (2.23%); obstetrics and gynecology (0.16%); oncology (0.01%); pediatrics (0.69%); and psychiatry (0.23%). Within general and internal medicine, neuroimaging, and pediatrics, seizure-related articles are more likely to be first-authored by someone with a neurology-related affiliation. Within critical care medicine, emergency medicine, neurosurgery, and obstetrics and gynecology, seizure-related articles were more likely to be first-authored by someone whose affiliation is within the field.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our study characterizes seizure and epilepsy research published in nonneurology journals. We found that there is a paucity of such research published in nonneurology journals, whether authored by neurologists or other specialists. This is not ideal since nonneurologists are often first-line providers for recognizing, diagnosing, or managing seizures prior to assessment by a neurologist. Cross-specialty collaboration should be strongly encouraged in clinical research.
    Keywords:  Epilepsy; Interdisciplinary communication; Intersectoral collaboration; Neurology; Publishing; Seizures
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.01.032
  9. Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd. 2019 Feb;126(2): 91-100
    [The content of publications in the Netherlands Journal of Dentistry - an analysis of patterns over time].
    P van der Wouden, G J M G van der Heijden, H Shemesh, P A A van den Besselaar.
      In 2018, the Netherlands Journal of Dentistry (NTVT) had been published for 125 years: reason for a systematic look at the subjects that have received attention since 2000. These subjects were subsequently compared to those in Dutch dental publications in international literature and to leading fields in oral health care. The analysis revealed an increase in the attention given to certain fields in the Netherlands Journal of Dentistry, such as public dental health, during the past 18 years and a decrease in the attention given to other subjects, such as basic scientific research. In addition, there was a limited correlation between fields involving the greatest cost of care, such as cariology and preventive dentistry, and research activity. This held true both for international publications and publications in the Netherlands Journal of Dentistry.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5177/ntvt.2019.02.18242
  10. An Pediatr (Barc). 2019 Feb 15. pii: S1695-4033(19)30010-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    [Half a century of ANALES DE PEDIATRÍA. Evolution of its main bibliometric indicators in the Web of Science and Scopus international databases].
    Javier González de Dios, Adolfo Alonso-Arroyo, Rafael Aleixandre-Benavent.
       PURPOSE: To analyse the coverage and main bibliometric indicators of ANALES DE PEDIATRÍA in Scopus and Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science (SCIE) databases.
    MATERIAL AND METHOD: The evolution of the journal production was identified according to the document types, collaboration indexes between authors and institutions, and citations, and impact indicators (number of citations, impact factor, 5-years impact factor and without self-citations, Scimago Journal Rank, quartile, h index and most cited works).
    RESULTS: A total of 10,128 papers were included in Scopus (a mean of around 225 per year) and 1,861 in SCIE (a mean of around 207 per year). The index of collaboration was 4.4 for authors and 2 for institutions. There was international collaboration in 4.2% of the papers. The number of citations received in Scopus (619) exceeded the number of citations received in SCIE (385) by 234. The mean number of citations per paper was lower in SCIE (2.27 in Scopus compared to 1.5 in SCIE). The h index was 18 in Scopus and 14 in SCIE.
    CONCLUSIONS: Discrepancies were observed in the indicators obtained in both databases due to the different indexation policies, coverage, and classification methods of the papers. The number of citations, the mean number of citations per work, and the h index were higher in Scopus due to the longer life of the journal in that database. There is a positive evolution of the impact factor in SCIE, of the impact factor excluding self-citations, and of the 5-year impact factor.
    Keywords:  Anales de Pediatría; Bibliometric indicators; Impacto científico; Indicadores bibliométricos; Science Citation Index Expanded; Scientific impact; Scopus
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anpedi.2018.12.012
  11. J Sex Med. 2019 Feb 14. pii: S1743-6095(19)30010-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    The Quality of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Erectile Dysfunction Treatment and Management Published in the Sexual Medicine Literature.
    Daniel R Greenberg, Michael T Richardson, Jonathan D Tijerina, Michelle B Bass, Michael L Eisenberg.
       INTRODUCTION: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common medical condition that requires high-quality evidence to guide clinical practice; however, systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) often vary in quality, raising concerns regarding the validity of their results.
    AIM: To perform an objective analysis of SRs and MAs in ED treatment and management and to report on the quality of published literature.
    METHODS: A comprehensive search in PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE of 12 high-impact urology journals was used to identify relevant publications. 2 authors independently performed searches, screened citations for eligibility, extracted data for analysis, and graded methodologic quality using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) criteria.
    MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome was AMSTAR score, which is a validated tool to evaluate the quality of SRs and MAs.
    RESULTS: 31 publications met inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The mean AMSTAR score (± SD) among all publications was 6.5 (±2.2) of 11, reflecting "fair to good" quality. 74.2% of systematic reviews and meta-analyses focused on pharmaceutical therapy for ED, with 51.6% studying the effect of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors. Only 1 SR/MA studied intracavernosal injection therapy and vacuum erection devices. No publications studied intraurethral injection therapy or implantable penile prostheses. Although not statistically significant, there has been a trend of increasing quality of SRs/MAs over time (P = .072).
    CLINICAL IMPLICATION: The methodologic quality of SRs/MAs should be assessed to ensure high-quality evidence for clinical practice guidelines in ED treatment and management.
    STRENGTH & LIMITATION: The data showed that methodologic quality of SRs/MAs in the treatment and management of ED is increasing over time. 12 high-impact urology journals were included in our search, which may introduce selection bias in our results.
    CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights a need for increased effort to study second- and third-line treatments for patients who fail oral therapy. Greenberg DR, Richardson MT, Tijerina JD, et al. The Quality of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Erectile Dysfunction Treatment and Management Published in the Sexual Medicine Literature. J Sex Med 2019;XX:XXX-XXX.
    Keywords:  AMSTAR; Erectile Dysfunction; Impotence; Quality; Systematic Reviews
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.01.009
  12. Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2018 ;32 84
    Mapping diabetes research in Middle Eastern countries during 2007-2013: A scientometric analysis.
    Zahra Emami, Nadjla Hariri, Mohammad Ebrahim Khamseh, Fatemeh Nooshinfard.
      Background: Scientometric studies are highly important, as they provide information about scientific products worldwide and empower scientists to compare research activities in different regions. The present study was conducted to map scientific research in diabetes mellitus using scientometric analysis in Middle Eastern countries during 2003- 2007. Methods: This was an analytical study with a scientometric approach. The study population was formed by the indexed scientific results of diabetes mellitus in the Web of Science database during 2007-2013. Data were analyzed using Excel, and HistCite to map the scientific texts. Results: A total of 6532 records were retrieved from 3926 institutions. These records belonged to 19 323 authors and were published in 1420 journals. The Journal of Diabetes Care, with 3928 citations, had the most global citation score (GCS). The Journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, with 185 citations, achieved the first degree of local citation score (LCS). Most of the scientific documents produced in the Middle East belonged to Turkey (31.91%) and Iran (21.7%). Seven scientific clusters based on LCS, and 5 based on GCS existed in the scientific mapping. Topical clusters based on global and local indices showed that the prevalence of diabetes, hyperglycemia, and pregnancy outcomes, diabetic risk factors, diabetic complications and their new treatments, and glucose monitoring in Type 1 diabetes were the fields being addressed in the main articles of the clusters. Conclusion: Scientific production and local and global citations in diabetes research in Iran (21.7% of diabetes research in the Middle East) have elevated the country to a prominent position. Top ranking countries in diabetic research were Turkey, Iran, and Israel, respectively. Moreover, this paper quantified the studies that were done on different aspects of diabetes. The results of this study can be used by health care providers to employ the best multidisciplinary approach for managing diabetes and its complications. Also, the results can help the policy-makers and governments to determine the priorities for budget allocation based on the burden of diseases. Establishing a regional diabetes network in the Middle East can be beneficial and lead to scientific collaboration and an increase in scientific production in this field.
    Keywords:  Diabetes mellitus; Middle East; Scientific research; Scientometric
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14196/mjiri.32.84
  13. Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2019 Feb 19.
    Bibliometric analysis of the brazilian periodical "journal of biochemistry education".
    Agatha Santos do Nascimento, Felipe Sales de Oliveira, M Lucia Bianconi.
      The bibliometric analysis of the Brazilian periodical "Journal of Biochemistry Education" (JBE) covered the 117 articles published in 15 volumes in the period 2001-2017. Our results showed a positive trend in JBE publications with a significant increase in the number of articles since 2014, which can be related to the increase in research groups working in this area. The Southeast region of Brazil was the most productive one mainly due to the contribution of papers from institutions located in the State of São Paulo. Only four articles aimed the undergraduate courses (87.0%) showing methodological approaches to teach biochemistry (51.3%) and laboratory exercises (18.8%) among others. Most of the 332 authors contributed to a single article (87.7%) and just 3% of them published more than twice in JBE. The majority of the JBE articles had at least one citation in Google Scholar. There is also a great variety in the references used by the authors. Our analysis showed that JBE is an important peer reviewed publication aimed to improve teaching and learning of Biochemistry in Brazil. © 2019 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 00(00):1-8, 2019.
    Keywords:  Bibliometrics; Biochemistry education; Brazilian publication
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/bmb.21220
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