Is research related to a country’s economic development? An analysis of biomedical publications from several GCC and ASEAN countries from 1994-2013
- Author:
Chao Tian Tang
;
Paul Mark Wilkerson
;
Yuen Soon
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Biomedical research;
publications;
PubMed;
bibliometrics
- MeSH:
Biomedical Research
- From:
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
2016;71(2):57-61
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: Biomedical research has traditionally been the
domain of developed countries. We aim to study the effects
of the increased focus on biomedical and medical research
on level 1-4 publications in several industrialised and newly
industrialised countries endowed with petroleum and gas
resources.
Methods: We identified all level 1-4 publications from
01/01/1994 to 31/12/2013 via PubMed using advanced
options. The population and GDP (current US$) data from
1994-2013 were obtained through data provided by the
World Bank and the raw data was normalised based on
these two indicators.
Results: From 1994-2013, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were
responsible for the highest absolute number of level 1 to 4
biomedical and medical research publications with 2551 and
1951 publications respectively. When normalised to
population, Kuwait and Qatar had the highest publication
rates, with 7.84 and 3.99 publications per 100,000
inhabitants respectively in a five yearly average. Kuwait
produced the largest number of publications per billion
(current US$) of GDP, at 2.92 publications, followed by
Malaysia at 2.82 publications in a five yearly average.
Conclusion: The population size of a country as well as GDP
can influence the number of level 1-4 publications in some
countries. More importantly, effective government policy
which stimulates research as well as a culture which actively
promotes research as shown by Malaysia have proven to
have a larger influence on the amount of level 1-4 biomedical
and medical publications.
- Full text:P020160628385073127272.pdf
