Interfield dysbalances in research input and output benchmarking: Visualisation by density equalizing procedures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Historical, social and economic reasons can lead to major differences in the allocation of health system resources and research funding. These differences might endanger the progress in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of socio-economic important diseases. The present study aimed to assess different benchmarking approaches that might be used to analyse these disproportions. Research in two categories was analysed for various output parameters and compared to input parameters. Germany was used as a high income model country. For the areas of cardiovascular and respiratory medicine density equalizing mapping procedures visualized major geographical differences in both input and output markers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An imbalance in the state financial input was present with 36 cardiovascular versus 8 respiratory medicine state-financed full clinical university departments at the C4/W3 salary level. The imbalance in financial input is paralleled by an imbalance in overall quantitative output figures: The 36 cardiology chairs published 2708 articles in comparison to 453 articles published by the 8 respiratory medicine chairs in the period between 2002 and 2006. This is a ratio of 75.2 articles per cardiology chair and 56.63 articles per respiratory medicine chair. A similar trend is also present in the qualitative measures. Here, the 2708 cardiology publications were cited 48337 times (7290 times for respiratory medicine) which is an average citation of 17.85 per publication vs. 16.09 for respiratory medicine. The average number of citations per cardiology chair was 1342.69 in contrast to 911.25 citations per respiratory medicine chair. Further comparison of the contribution of the 16 different German states revealed major geographical differences concerning numbers of chairs, published items, total number of citations and average citations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite similar significances of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases for the global burden of disease, large input and output imbalances have been revealed in the present study which point to a need for changes in funding policies. The present study supplies data that could be used for decision making in the field of health systems funding.</p

Models of asthma: density-equalizing mapping and output benchmarking

Despite the large amount of experimental studies already conducted on bronchial asthma, further insights into the molecular basics of the disease are required to establish new therapeutic approaches. As a basis for this research different animal models of asthma have been developed in the past years. However, precise bibliometric data on the use of different models do not exist so far. Therefore the present study was conducted to establish a data base of the existing experimental approaches. Density-equalizing algorithms were used and data was retrieved from a Thomson Institute for Scientific Information database. During the period from 1900 to 2006 a number of 3489 filed items were connected to animal models of asthma, the first being published in the year 1968. The studies were published by 52 countries with the US, Japan and the UK being the most productive suppliers, participating in 55.8% of all published items. Analyzing the average citation per item as an indicator for research quality Switzerland ranked first (30.54/item) and New Zealand ranked second for countries with more than 10 published studies. The 10 most productive journals included 4 with a main focus allergy and immunology and 4 with a main focus on the respiratory system. Two journals focussed on pharmacology or pharmacy. In all assigned subject categories examined for a relation to animal models of asthma, immunology ranked first. Assessing numbers of published items in relation to animal species it was found that mice were the preferred species followed by guinea pigs. In summary it can be concluded from density-equalizing calculations that the use of animal models of asthma is restricted to a relatively small number of countries. There are also differences in the use of species. These differences are based on variations in the research focus as assessed by subject category analysis

Mobile Air Quality Studies (MAQS) - an international project

Due to an increasing awareness of the potential hazardousness of air pollutants, new laws, rules and guidelines have recently been implemented globally. In this respect, numerous studies have addressed traffic-related exposure to particulate matter using stationary technology so far. By contrast, only few studies used the advanced technology of mobile exposure analysis. The Mobile Air Quality Study (MAQS) addresses the issue of air pollutant exposure by combining advanced high-granularity spatial-temporal analysis with vehicle-mounted, person-mounted and roadside sensors. The MAQS-platform will be used by international collaborators in order 1) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to road structure, 2) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to traffic density, 3) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to weather conditions, 4) to compare exposure within vehicles between front and back seat (children) positions, and 5) to evaluate "traffic zone"- exposure in relation to non-"traffic zone"-exposure. Primarily, the MAQS-platform will focus on particulate matter. With the establishment of advanced mobile analysis tools, it is planed to extend the analysis to other pollutants including including NO2, SO2, nanoparticles, and ozone

a scientometric analysis of the scientific output

SARS ist die erste neue Infektionskrankheit des 21. Jahrhunderts. Die Epidemie spielte sich primär in Südostasien ab, der Rest der Welt war nur marginal betroffen. Es wurden insgesamt 8422 Krankheitsfälle gemeldet, wovon alleine 5372 aus China kamen. Weltweit verstarben 916 Patienten an der Erkrankung, was eine Mortalitätsrate von 11% ausmacht. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert das gesamte Forschungsaufkommen zu SARS. Neben der Datenbankrecherche werden szientometrische Verfahren angewandt - teilweise mit selbst entwickelten Programmen - mit deren Hilfe die Daten weiterverarbeitet und ausgewertet werden. Im Zeitraum 2003-2007 erschienen in der „PubMed“-online Datenbank insgesamt 4657 Publikationen zu SARS, in der der Datenbank des „ISI-Web of Science“ finden sich 4327 Erscheinungen. Ca. 98% der Veröffentlichungen sind in englischer Sprache publiziert, 68 % erschienen in der Form von „articles“. China zeigt das höchste Forschungsaufkommen zu SARS mit 1283 Publikationen, die USA veröffentlichte 1080 Beiträge zur Thematik. Die beiden Länder publizierten 155 Artikel in Kooperation miteinander. Die Zeitschrift „Emerging Infectious Diseases“ publizierte in den Jahren 2003-2007 177 Artikel zum Thema SARS und somit im Vergleich die höchste Anzahl an Beiträgen zu der Thematik. Auch hoch renommierte Periodika, wie der „Lancet“, das „JAMA-Journal of the American Society“ und „Science“, weisen vor allem im Erscheinungsjahr 2003 viele Veröffentlichungen zu SARS auf. Die Berechnung eines durchschnittlichen Impact-Faktors für die SARS-Literatur ergibt für das Jahr 2003 einen Wert von 17,06. Im Jahr 2004 fällt er bereits auf einen Wert von 6,12, im Jahr 2007 erreicht er einen Wert von 4. Die Zitationsanalyse ergibt, dass die Artikel aus dem Jahr 2003 mit einer Zitationsrate von durchschnittlich 19 Zitierungen pro Artikel am häufigsten zitiert wurden. In den Folgejahren fällt die Rate stetig ab. Berücksichtigt man die Zitationen nach Zitationsjahren zeigt das Jahr 2005 mit 11166 Zitationen den höchsten Wert. Die Analyse der Zeitschriften nach Themenkategorien zeigt, dass dem Bereich „Medicine, General & Internal“ 12,92 % der SARS-Periodika zugeordnet werden. „Infectious Diseases“ weist einen Anteil von 11,84% auf, 9,89% werden unter „Biochemistry & Molecular Biology“ subsumiert. Betrachtet man die Themenschwerpunkte in den einzelnen SARS-Artikeln, kommt man zu dem Ergebnis, dass im Jahre 2003 mit 21,2% der Artikel das größte Forschungsaufkommen dem Thema „Epidemiologie“ zugeordnet wird. Das Themengebiet „Therapie“ zeigt einen Anteil von 19,5%, an dritter Stelle folgt „Ätiologie“ mit einem Anteil von 17,5% der Veröffentlichungen. Es wird außerdem aufgezeigt, dass insgesamt eine sehr hohe Produktivität einzelner Autoren bestand. Einige Autoren veröffentlichten im Zeitraum 2003-2007 bis zu 80 Artikel zu dem Thema. Die Untersuchung nach Kooperationen zwischen den Autoren mit den meisten Veröffentlichungen ergab eine enge Zusammenarbeit dieser Autoren. Auch konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese teilweise eine hohe Rate an Selbstzitierungen vorweisen (bis zu 20%).SARS is the first emerging infectious disease in the 21st century. The majority of cases occured in the southeast of asia while the rest of the world was only marginally affected. A total of 8422 cases were reported, 5372 of the patients were from China. 916 people have died of SARS, the mortality-rate thus amounts to 11%. In the following study, a comprehensive investigation of scientific publications on SARS will be conducted by using two of the largest biomedical databases (PubMed, Web of Science). 4657 papers on SARS were published in the „PubMed“-online database, the analyses in the „ISI-Web of Science“ include 4327 items on SARS between 2003-2007. Approximately 98% of the publications are written in English, 68% were published in the form of „articles“. China provides the greatest scientific output (1283 publications on SARS) and there are 1080 papers considered originating in the United States. These both countries published 155 items in collaboration. With regard to the number of articles on SARS the journal „Emerging Infectious Diseases“ carries the greatest importance with 177 items published between 2003 and 2007. But also highly reputable journals as the „Lancet“, the „JAMA-Journal of the American Society“ and „Science“ hold a great amount of publications on the topic; this is especially valid in 2003, the year when the pandemia broke out. The calculation of an average impact-factor to quantify the SARS-literature shows the highest result in 2003 (17,6) while in 2004 the impact-factor already declines on a number of 6,12. The annual number of citations of scientific contributions to SARS compared to the previous year increases steadily from 2003 to 2005; since 2006 the rate declines. The analysis of individual sub-categories shows a greatest interest in the areas of epidemiology (21,2%), therapy (19,5%) and etiology (17,5%) for the year 2003. The output of individual authors has been highly productive, some of them have published up to 80 papers on the subject between 2003 and 2007. In addition, there exists a dynamic cooperation between the 10 authors that published most frequently. The analysis also shows that there is a high rate of self-citation of several authors (up to 20%)

Institutional operating figures in basic and applied sciences: Scientometric analysis of quantitative output benchmarking

Abstract Background Institutional operating figures and benchmarking systems are important features for the implementation of efficacy in basic and applied sciences. They are needed for research evaluation and funding policy. However, the current policy settings for research evaluation urgently need review since there may be imbalances present in many areas. Methods The present study assessed benchmarking of research output. By the use of large data bases research output was categorized and analyzed. Specific areas of major research activity were identified by comparing publication density on different organ systems and inter- and intrafield comparison was performed for selected countries. Results Novel density-equalizing mappings were constructed that illustrate trends of publication activity and identify subsets of major interest in a total of 5,527,558 published items. A dichotomy was present between Western countries such as the US, UK or Germany and Asian countries such as Japan, China or South Korea concerning research focuses. Conclusion The present study is the first large scale analysis of global research activity and output over the last 50 years. The presently described assessment of operating figures at the national and international level can be used to identify single areas of research that are heavily focused. Further research on qualitative output benchmarking is needed to improve current policy settings for research evaluation.</p

Analysis of research output parameters: Density equalizing mapping and citation trend analysis

Abstract Background Burden of disease studies indicate major socio-economic burdens since many years. They should be used for the allocation of funding. However, imbalances are present in funding policies and therefore benchmarking becomes increasingly important in health services research. Methods The present study assessed benchmarking approaches. Using large data base analyses, research was analyzed for different health research output parameters. The fields of cardiovascular and respiratory medicine served as models to assess irregular patterns of health research. For visualization, density equalizing mapping procedures were used. Results Specific areas of major research activity were identified for European countries and large differences were found. Spatial distribution of published items for cardiac and cardiovascular systems differed in comparison to the distribution for the respiratory system. In general, large countries dominated the overall number of published items. When qualitative measures such as citation analysis were assessed, differing results were achieved. In this category, mostly Scandinavian countries dominated. Conclusion The present approach of comparative output benchmarking can be used to assess institutional operating figures at the national and international level and to analyze imbalances in health and research funding.</p