Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Apr 19;36(17):2254-2261.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.02.049. Epub 2018 Mar 22.

A bibliometric analysis of systematic reviews on vaccines and immunisation

Silke Fernandes  1 , Mark Jit  2 , Fiammetta Bozzani  3 , Ulla K Griffiths  4 , J Anthony G Scott  3 , Helen E D Burchett  3
Affiliations

A bibliometric analysis of systematic reviews on vaccines and immunisation

Silke Fernandes et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Introduction: SYSVAC is an online bibliographic database of systematic reviews and systematic review protocols on vaccines and immunisation compiled by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) through their National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) resource centre (www.nitag-resource.org). Here the development of the database and a bibliometric review of its content is presented, describing trends in the publication of policy-relevant systematic reviews on vaccines and immunisation from 2008 to 2016.

Materials and methods: Searches were conducted in seven scientific databases according to a standardized search protocol, initially in 2014 with the most recent update in January 2017. Abstracts and titles were screened according to specific inclusion criteria. All included publications were coded into relevant categories based on a standardized protocol and subsequently analysed to look at trends in time, topic, area of focus, population and geographic location.

Results: After screening for inclusion criteria, 1285 systematic reviews were included in the database. While in 2008 there were only 34 systematic reviews on a vaccine-related topic, this increased to 322 in 2016. The most frequent pathogens/diseases studied were influenza, human papillomavirus and pneumococcus. There were several areas of duplication and overlap.

Discussion: As more systematic reviews are published it becomes increasingly time-consuming for decision-makers to identify relevant information among the ever-increasing volume available. The risk of duplication also increases, particularly given the current lack of coordination of systematic reviews on vaccine-related questions, both in terms of their commissioning and their execution. The SYSVAC database offers an accessible catalogue of vaccine-relevant systematic reviews with, where possible access or a link to the full-text.

Conclusions: SYSVAC provides a freely searchable platform to identify existing vaccine-policy-relevant systematic reviews. Systematic reviews will need to be assessed adequately for each specific question and quality.

Keywords: Bibliometric; Immunization; Systematic review; Vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

Anthony Scott is a member of the United Kingdom Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of references from initial search to inclusion in database.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of systematic reviews on vaccination/immunization by year.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Shows the trend over time and the annual number of systematic reviews for disease/pathogen areas for which ≥ 50 systematic reviews were identified.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Number of systematic reviews by topic area.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Number of systematic reviews by population groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. GAVI’s Mission statement. GAVI-the vaccine alliance. [accessed on 11 January 2017]; http://www.gavi.org/about/mission/
    1. Global, regional, and national advisory committees on immunization. World Health Organization; [accessed on 14 March 2017]. http://www.who.int/immunization/policy/committees/en/
    1. Lavis J, Davies H, Oxman A, Denis JL, Golden-Biddle K, F E. Towards systematic reviews that inform health care management and policy-making. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2005;10(Suppl.1):35–48. - PubMed
    1. Petticrew M, Roberts H. Systematic reviews in social sciences - a practical guide. John Wiley and Sons Ltd; 2005.
    1. What is a systematic review? Cochrane Handbook. [accessed on 13 October 2016]; http://handbook.cochrane.org/chapter_1/1_2_2_what_is_a_systematic_review....

Publication types