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. 2012 Feb;12(1):41-7.
doi: 10.12816/0003086. Epub 2012 Feb 7.

Biomedical publications profile and trends in gulf cooperation council countries

Almundher Al-Maawali  1 , Ahmed Al Busadi, Samir Al-Adawi
Affiliations

Biomedical publications profile and trends in gulf cooperation council countries

Almundher Al-Maawali et al. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: There is a dearth of studies examining the relationship between research output and other socio-demographic indicators in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). The three interrelated aims of this study were, first, to ascertain the number of biomedical publications in the GCC from 1970 to 2010; second, to establish the rate of publication according population size during the same period and, third, to gauge the relationship between the number of publications and specific socio-economic parameters.

Methods: The Medline database was searched in October 2010 by affiliation, year and publication type from 1970 to 2010. Data obtained were normalised to the number of publications per million of the population, gross domestic product, and the number of physicians in each country.

Results: The number of articles from the GCC region published over this 40 year period was 25,561. Saudi Arabia had the highest number followed by Kuwait, UAE, and then Oman. Kuwait had the highest profile of publication when normalised to population size, followed by Qatar. Oman is the lowest in this ranking. Overall, the six countries showed a rising trend in publication numbers with Oman having a significant increase from 1990 to 2005. There was a significant relationship between the number of physicians and the number of publications.

Conclusion: The research productivity from GGC has experienced complex and fluctuating growth in the past 40 years. Future prospects for increasing research productivity are discussed with particular reference to the situation in Oman.

Keywords: Arabian peninsula; Biomedical research; Gulf Cooperation Council; Oman; Publications.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
The absolute number of publications retrieved from Medline database over the period January 1970 to October 2010.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
The average number of publications per million population (PPMP) per year over a 40 year period from 1970 to 2010.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
The trend in numbers of publications corrected to publication per million of the population over interval periods between 1970 and 2010.
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Comparison across countries for the period 1970 to 2010 giving the average number of publications per million population (PPMP), gross domestic product (GDP) and physicians.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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