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
Review
. 2023 Mar:35:100405.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100405. Epub 2023 Jan 20.

Bibliometric analysis of cancer research outputs in Botswana between 2009 and 2021

Moses O Koobotse  1 , Matshediso Zachariah  2 , Bonolo Senabye  2 , Irene Gobe  2 , Khutsafalo Kadimo  3 , Keneuoe C Nthontho  4 , Margaret Mokomane  2 , Garesego Koto  2 , Thato Phuthego  2 , Henry Lekgetho  2 , Andrew Ndlovu  2 , Modisa Motswaledi  2 , Alfred Mbwinja  2 , Leabaneng Tawe  4 , Pleasure Ramatlho  4 , Giacomo M Paganotti  5 , Lynnete Kyokunda  6 , Peter Vuylsteke  7 , Surbhi Grover  8 , Doreen Ramogola-Masire  9 , Ishmael Kasvosve  2
Affiliations
Review

Bibliometric analysis of cancer research outputs in Botswana between 2009 and 2021

Moses O Koobotse et al. J Cancer Policy. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer research is critical for cancer control policies; however, the state of cancer research activities in Botswana is largely unknown. The goal of this review was to describe trends and patterns of cancer research outputs in Botswana.

Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, African Journals Online, and African Index Medicus databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed, primary cancer-related research articles published on the Botswana population or by Botswana institutions between January 2009 and June 2021.

Results: Of the 86 publications included, 39 (45 %) were about cervical cancer, followed by breast cancer (10 %) and Kaposi sarcoma (7 %). The remainder (27 %) were not focused on any specific cancer type. The research activities were skewed towards three main areas of scientific interest: early detection, diagnosis, and prognosis; cancer control, survivorship, and outcomes; and treatment. Botswana was represented by authors in the first (54 %), last (53 %), and any authorship (53 %) positions. The United States of America had the strongest collaborative partnerships with Botswana, followed by the United Kingdom and South Africa. The majority of funding institutions were American (76 %) and the National Institutes of Health was the most mentioned funding organization, accounting for 33 % of all financial acknowledgments. Only 9 % of the funding acknowledgments came from Botswana.

Conclusion and policy summary: Although cancer research in Botswana is expanding because of substantial foreign assistance, it is also hampered by a lack of local funding, minimal participation by Botswana-affiliated researchers, and research that is not aligned with disease burden. Our study highlights the need to strengthen local research capacity in Botswana.

Keywords: Bibliometrics; Botswana; Cancer; Research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Screening and selection of cancer research studies in Botswana.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Trend analysis of primary cancer research outputs in Botswana between 2009 and 2021. (A) The number of articles published every year from 2009 to 2021. (B) The percentage of articles published on each type of cancer. Studies that were not specific to one type of cancer were classified as non-site specific. (C) The percentage of new cases and research outputs by cancer type during the period 2009–2018. (D) Observed and expected research outputs for each type of cancer. Abbreviations: HNC-Head and neck cancer; NHL-Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Analysis of primary cancer research outputs by research focus in Botswana between 2009 and 2021. (A) The number of articles by cancer research focus. (B) Changes in cancer research focus between 2009 and 2020. (C) Frequencies of research focus in non-site-specific cancer and the three most-studied cancers.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Authorship of primary cancer research outputs by research focus in Botswana between 2009 and 2021. (A) The average number of authors per article in each year. (B) The average number of authors with Botswana affiliation compared with authors with any affiliation. (C) The number of first and last authors with Botswana affiliation.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Analysis of types of cancer studies by first and last authors with Botswana affiliation. (A) Percentage of first and last authors among cancer research outputs reporting different types of cancer. (B) Percentage of first and last authors’ affiliation among research outputs with different areas of focus.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.
Analysis of collaboration in cancer research in Botswana between 2009 and 2021. (A) Network visualization map of cancer research collaborations between Botswana and other countries. Countries that were affiliated with at least 2 articles were included in the analysis. The thickness of the line between any two countries is determined by the number of co-authorships; a thicker line represents more collaboration. (B) The strength of collaborations between Botswana and other countries based on the network visualization map. (C) Network visualization map of collaborating institutions publishing about cancer research in Botswana.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7.
The most frequently acknowledged funding sources of cancer research in Botswana. (A) The most frequently acknowledged institutions. (B) Countries with the most frequently acknowledged funding institutions. Abbreviations: PEPFAR–The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; NABSA–Network for Analytical and Bioassay Services in Africa; CRUK–Cancer Research UK; BUP-Botswana–University of Pennsylvania Partnership; AAD–American Academy of Dermatology; UPenn–University of Pennsylvania; ASCO–American Society for Clinical Oncology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. World Health Organization, Cancer [Internet], Factsheets, 2022. 〈https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer〉. (Accessed 18 April 2022).
    1. Glynn RW, Chin JZ, Kerin MJ, Sweeney KJ, Representation of cancer in the medical literature – a bibliometric analysis, PLoS One 5 (11) (2010), e13902, 10.1371/journal.pone.0013902. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F, Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries, CA Cancer J. Clin 71 (3) (2021) 209–249, 10.3322/caac.21660. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Plummer M, de Martel C, Vignat J, Ferlay J, Bray F, Franceschi S, Global burden of cancers attributable to infections in 2012: a synthetic analysis, Lancet Glob. Health 4 (9) (2016) e609–e616. 〈https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214109X16301437〉. - PubMed
    1. de Martel C, Georges D, Bray F, Ferlay J, Clifford GM, Global burden of cancer attributable to infections in 2018: a worldwide incidence analysis, Lancet Glob. Health 8 (2) (2020) e180–e190, 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30488-7. - DOI - PubMed