2008–2012 External Evaluation of the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank
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Page | 245 Chapter 8 Bibliometric analysis Karen Gurney Manager, Bibliometric Reporting, Thomson Reuters (Evidence), Leeds, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Bethan Sheridan-Jones Data Analyst, Thomson Reuters (Evidence), Leeds, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Simon Thomson Data Analyst, Thomson Reuters (Evidence), Leeds, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Page | 246 Page | 247 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 249 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 251 1.1 Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction .................................................................................................................... 251 1.2 Objectives of the report .............................................................................................. 251 1.3 About Thomson Reuters .............................................................................................. 251 2 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 252 2.1 Bibliometric data and citation analysis......................................................................... 252 2.2 Data source ................................................................................................................. 253 2.3 Definitions used in this report ..................................................................................... 253 2.4 Interpretation of data and analyses ............................................................................. 254 3 Baseline bibliometric analysis of HRP research publications ............................................... 255 3.1 Key findings ................................................................................................................. 255 3.2 HRP publication dataset for bibliometric analyses ....................................................... 256 3.3 In which journals do HRP researchers publish most frequently? .................................. 257 3.4 Is research published by HRP well cited? ..................................................................... 259 3.5 Trends in the numbers of papers published by HRP researchers .................................. 261 3.6 Trends in the citation impact of papers published by HRP researchers......................... 262 4 International authorship and collaboration ........................................................................ 264 4.1 Key findings ................................................................................................................. 264 4.2 The principal countries publishing HRP research papers .............................................. 264 4.3 Collaboration between countries publishing HRP research papers ............................... 266 4.4 HRP research papers published by researchers based in low-and middle-income countries ........................................................................................................................... 268 References ............................................................................................................................ 271 Annex 1: Bibliometrics and citation analysis .......................................................................... 272 Annex 2: HRP research portfolio ........................................................................................... 279 Page | 248 Abbreviations HRP UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction ISI Institute for Scientific Information mNCI mean normalized citation impact NCI normalized citation impact NCIF field-normalized citation impact PMID unique publication identifier assigned by PubMed UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USA United States of America UT unique publication identifier (unique tag) assigned by the Web of Science WHO World Health Organization HRP External Evaluation 2008−2012 Chapter 8 Page | 249 Abstract The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/World Health Organization (WHO)/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) database contained 3459 records (the “research portfolio”), of which 1903 were linked to Thomson Reuters’ citation databases (the “publication dataset”). Those records that did not match the citation databases could not be included in citation analyses in this report. The principal reasons for this are: • some niche regional journals and specialist journals in obstetrics and gynaecology are not currently abstracted by the Web of Knowledge; • some document types, such as reports are not abstracted by the Web of Knowledge. Consequently, this report has evaluated the research performance of between one half and two thirds of the HRP research portfolio and focuses on the research published in journals. It therefore captures only a specific part of the HRP’s research output over the period. • Over the 21-year time period 1990–2011 encompassed by this report, HRP researchers have authored 1842 unique publications abstracted by the Web of Knowledge. Of these, 1645 are papers (substantive journal articles and reviews). • The top 20 journals in which HRP researchers have published most frequently include titles focused on contraception, andrology and obstetrics and gynaecology, as well as substantial output in elite medical journals. • The journal category of Obstetrics & Gynaecology accounts for the highest share of HRP research, with more than one third (40.9%) of HRP papers falling into this category. This research is well cited, with a citation impact approaching twice the world average. • HRP has published fewer papers in the journal categories of General & Internal Medicine and Oncology but this research is very well cited, with a citation impact of between two and three times the world average. • While the average number of papers produced by HRP researchers per annum has fallen between the time period 1990–2007 and 2008–2011, the normalized citation impact of HRP papers has risen from 1.42 between 1990 and 2007 to 2.14 by 2008– 2011, as has the percentage of these papers that are highly cited (from 16.5% to 18.3%). These indicators of research performance are significantly above the world average, and indicative of research that is of strong international standing. This report contains detailed country-level analyses of HRP research production. As WHO is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and because over 95% of Swiss papers are authored by WHO authors, the designation “WHO/Switzerland” has been used rather than the country label Switzerland to reflect this. Overall, Australia, China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), the United States of America (USA) and WHO/Switzerland have produced the highest volumes of HRP research papers over the period 1990–2011. Comparing the most recent 4 years of the analyses (2008–2011) with the longer-term period 1990–2007, the relative percentage of research papers produced by country has increased in WHO/Switzerland, the USA, Argentina, South Africa and Brazil. By contrast, the relative percentage of research papers in China, Australia and India has decreased. Page | 250 Collaboration analysis has shown that research associated with HRP has become more collaborative in recent years. The most noticeable change is the involvement of low-income countries. In the period 1990–2007, there were no collaborative papers published with low- income countries. In the most recent 4-year period, five countries: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Uganda and Viet Nam have all published at least four collaborative papers associated with HRP. There has also been increased participation in HRP by lower-middle-income countries. HRP External Evaluation 2008−2012 Chapter 8 Page | 251 1 Introduction 1.1 Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction The Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) is a special United Nations (UN) programme, cosponsored by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank, and founded in 1972. It is the main instrument within the UN for research in human reproduction. The Programme is hosted by WHO, but is governed independently. Since 1990, it has trained more than 70 000 staff at regional and country centres, and has administered more than 4860 research-capacity- strengthening grants. It is currently active in seven programme areas: • promoting family planning; • improving maternal and perinatal health; • preventing unsafe abortion; • controlling sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections; • adolescent reproductive health and sexuality; • gender issues and reproductive rights in reproductive health; • sexual health. 1.2 Objectives of the report HRP wishes to use bibliometric data as an input into its 5-yearly external review process. This