Medical Library and Information Science: Do We Need New Journal?

On behalf of the chairman, Prof. Abbas Haghparast, and the editorial board of the journal, I proudly announce Iran's first English-language journal in the medical library and information science area. The Journal of Medical Library and Information Science (JMLIS) is a peer-review and an open- access scientific journal that aims to publish a variety of articles by librarians, researchers, faculty members, and students of the medical library and information science. The articles accepted by the journal include research / original article, review article, letter to the editor, commentary, and case report. The journal scope includes all aspects of the medical libraries and health information sciences and related topics. The decision to publish this journal was made due to the lack of English-language journals in the field of medical library and information science in Iran; however, the journal aims to move beyond national boundaries. We are confident that the contribution and participation of Iranian researchers in this field, as well as other countries, will improve the journal's quality so that we can soon see the journal indexed in reputable national and international databases. This journal is the result of the outstanding efforts of teamwork for almost three years. The initial idea of the publishing the journal was discussed by the specialized council of the Central Library of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) along with the faculty members of the Medical Library and Information Science Department of SBMU. Many face-to-face and online meetings were held by the Central Library Management, faculty members of the Medical Library and Information Science Department, and the SBMU-journals consultant, during these years to make it possible for the journal to be published in the best possible way. Besides, the publication of this journal owes much to the endless efforts of many colleagues. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Zarghi, Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology of SBMU for his endless support, as well as Director of Scientific Resources and Central Library of the SBMU, Chairman of the JMLIS, Editorial board members, Executive staff of the JMLIS, the faculty members of the Department of Medical Library and Information Science of SBMU and esteemed authors and reviewers of the articles, who sincerely devoted their time to realize this project. Being a professional and having a moral and scientific commitment to work without any expectations were all colleagues' characteristics that made them stand together like team members, and eliminating even one individual from this team leads to a significant gap in it. Undoubtedly, to continue this path, we need the cooperation of all professors, students, researchers, medical librarians, and health information specialists from Iran and other countries. It is hoped that publishing this journal can be a step towards promoting the medical library and information science to provide better services to the medical community

Identifying and Analysis of Marketing Mix in Medical Libraries

Introduction: Considering the marketing importance in libraries and information centers, this study aims to identify and compare 4Ps marketing mix components, including product, place, price, and promotion activities in libraries of medical sciences universities in Tehran.  Methods: This research is an analytical survey performed in three central libraries and 36 faculty libraries of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, and Iran Universities of Medical Sciences. The survey questionnaire includes 48 questions about the 4Ps marketing mix. Results: The mean score of product, place, and promotion marketing mix in Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, and Iran Universities of Medical Sciences is 2.91, 2.55, and 2.22 out of four, respectively. Their total average in price is also 0.31out of one. The highest average score of the product mix is 2.97 in Shahid Beheshti and Tehran Universities of Medical Sciences. The highest average place mix score is 2.62 in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. The highest averages score of promotion mix is 2.30 in Shahid Beheshti and Tehran Universities of Medical Sciences. Also, the highest average score of the price, 0.34, obtained by Iran University of Medical Sciences. ANOVA test showed no significant difference among the average score of 4Ps marketing mix in the intended Universities. (P> 0.05) Conclusion: The survey shows that the product, place, and promotion marketing mix get an average score, but the price is the least. Considering the powerful competitors of the libraries in this virtual age, librarians should play an essential role in appraising and develop the current state of libraries

Scientometric Analysis of Medical and Non-Medical Highly Cited Papers of Iran in Essential Science Indicator (ESI)

The aim of the present research is to study scientometric indicators (the number of articles and citations, the mean citation per paper, H-index, Y-index, and the national and international collaboration) of medical and non-medical highly cited papers of Iran in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI). The research population is all highly cited articles of Iran in ESI during 2005 to 2015. Data was retrieved from ESI and was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings show that Iran has achieved the 35th global rank in terms of the number of highly cited articles. This rank encompasses % 0.1 of the highly cited medical subject areas and % 0.6 of the global portion in non-medical areas. The growth of highly cited papers in non-medical subject areas is more than medical subject ones. Y-index indicates that the role of authors in most highly cited articles in both medical and non-medical subject areas is either as the corresponding or the first author, with an inclination towards the first author. Most of Iran’s highly cited articles in the medical subject areas are based on international collaborations, but in the non-medical areas, they are based on national collaborations. The most international collaborations are with U.S, Canada and England, respectively. H-index of Iran is 141. As a whole, in quantitative and qualitative assessment, non-medical subject areas have a better status than medical subject areas. In general, it can be said that the status of scientific products and the international status of Iran is not satisfactory. Professional planning and policy should be taken into consideration by Iran.

Co-authorship patterns and networks in the scientific publications of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

The increasing amount of scientific collaboration has led to an increase  in the quality of scientific publications. The goal of this article is to analyze the co-authorship patterns and networks in SBUMS’s scientific publications in WOS from 2009 to 2013. Hence, the co-authorship indicators and ratio of national to international collaborations are determined. This research is a descriptive survey including scientometric approaches. HistCite and NWB software is used to draw and analyze the networks. The findings show that the scientific publications of SBUMS are 6633 publications. The most productive authors are Fereidoun Azizi and Mohamad Reza Zali. The maximum number of scientific publications is allocated to the articles written by more than 5 authors. Collaborative Index (CI), Degree of Collaboration (DC), and Collaborative Coefficient (CC) are 4.27, 0.96, and 0.71 respectively. The ratio of national to international collaborations is 4.78. In co-authorship networks, there are 12825 nodes (authors) that are linked with 97618 edges. The highest degree and betweenness centrality belongs to Masjedi showing the communication paths of other nodes overtaking them. The most international collaboration belongs to the USA. The collaboration of authors in SBUMS is almost good but the international collaboration is not so. Encouraging policies for the further collaboration of authors surely leads to increasing the quality and quantity of the scientific publications. It is recommended to repeat the network analysis in different periods of time.

Analysis and Identification of Barriers to Using Evidence-based Databases in Nurses

Introduction: Evidence-based nursing uses the best scientific evidence in clinical decision-making for the best care. The essential step in this process is to find evidence from databases.  However, there are many barriers to its implementation that need to be identified. The purpose of this study was to determine the barriers to using evidence-based databases and their relationship to contextual characteristics. methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which 214 nurses working in educational hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences participated in 2020. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analysed by SPPS software version 23. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Results: Nurses' knowledge of evidence-based databases is average and low. The biggest is the weakness in formal and informal evidence-based nursing education. The results also showed that nurses with higher education (P-value = 0.002) and educational supervisors      (P-value = 0.015) and supervisors (P-value = 0.017) reported more barriers. Conclusion:  It is recommended that the head of departments and policymakers in nursing education make general revisions to the content of the nursing curriculum for the evidence-based practice concepts point of view and provide necessary facilities for relevant training courses by workshops, congresses, etc

Examining the Problems and Inconsistencies in the interpolation of English Transliterated names of Persian Language Researchers in Citation Databases

English Transliterated names of Non-Roman language researchers have been indexed in citation databases in various ways and do not follow a specific rule. For this reason, all the works of a specific writer are not retrieved while searching. This problem is also evident in the transliterating the names of Persian language researchers widely. This study has examined the problems and inconsistencies in the interpolation of English Transliterated names of 1301 faculty members of SBMU [1] were indexed in Scopus and ISC[2] citation databases The results showed that 193 (15%) faculty members have not had indexed scientific production in both databases and 1108 (85%) people have been indexed in one of two databases of their papers. 357(32.2%) have registered their names in more than 2 forms, and 413(37.3%) in 2 forms, and only 338(30.5%) of faculty members have registered their names in one form. Therefore, almost 70% of faculty members have not registered their names in a single form. The compilation of a list of names document based on the frequency of written form in valid databases is a solution that has been proposed to resolve this problem. [1] Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences [2] Islamic world science citation cente

Online Health Information Seeking Behavior among Iranian Pregnant Women: A Case Study

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the health information seeking behavior, applicability and the evaluation of health information obtained from the Internet by Iranian pregnant women. Design and setting: The present study was descriptive-survey. The study population included 196 pregnant women in different gestational months referred to hospitals with Obstetrics and Gynecology ward in Hamadan, Iran on September and October in 2016 who were selected based on stratified random sampling method. The data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. Findings: Most pregnant women, while facing with pregnancy problems, seek out health information from the Internet and they often trust the information and share with their doctor. The information increases their awareness about pregnancy. Websites and social networks are two important sources in finding health information and reference of content and educated authors are regarded as two important criteria in evaluating health information obtained from the Internet. In addition, fetal development and nutrition during pregnancy were regarded as two important issues having the most searches among pregnant women. Conclusion: Internet has become a popular source for health information finding. The high importance of the accuracy of information used by pregnant women and the vulnerability of this range of society highlight the need to equip hospital libraries with update resources of the information and amenities such as suitable seats, ventilation, and the like. Using medical librarians and informants and referral of pregnant women to these libraries by a doctor or midwife in order to obtain valid information, standardization of Persian-based digital libraries related to health, introducing valid portals for pregnant women are regarded as some important issues in this regard. Familiarizing pregnant women, especially in developing countries, with various types of content on the Internet and how to find valid information by medical librarians can facilitate the access to information for pregnant women and reduce many complications raised by the lack of reliable and valid information

Evaluation of the Pharmaceutical theses of the government Universities of Tehran and Shahid Beheshti based on ISO 7144 during 2008 to 2012

University theses and dissertations are among those credible sources of information which, with regard to their given status of value, and the use of update resources using the international regulations and standards, can be perfect sources for optimal recovery of information and can increase the scientific credibility. This study reviews the accordance of the Pharmaceutical theses of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and the University of Tehran with the ISO 7144 standards: 2008-2012. 765 pharmaceutical theses of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and the University of Tehran at both general and specialized levels were studied, using an analytical method.  Data collection was based on the checklist prepared according to ISO 7144 standards. The comparisons were performed based on the t-test, using SPSS software. The results manifested that the theses done at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences adhered more to the ISO standards compared to the University of Tehran.  The study also revealed that the mean score of the adherence to the standards of ISO has been more in specialized theses than the general ones. Moreover, it suggests that, due to their scientific and practical nature, theses are among the most important sources, and therefore, the manner through which the data is inserted, is of utmost importance. The accordance of the studied theses of both general and specialized themes in both universities to ISO 7144 standards is below the %50 of the desired standard and has a long way to go to reach the desired status

The Evaluation of organizational climate in college libraries and its relation with clients’ satisfaction

Purpose: Healthy organizational climate have an important role in the promotion of customer services. The aim of this research is to evaluate the organizational climate of the college libraries and its relation to the clients’ satisfaction. Methodology: Research population is the staff and the clients of the college libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. The climateQUAL questionnaire was used to assess the libraries organizational climate. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to evaluate clients’ satisfaction. Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were applied in SPSS 19 for data analysis. Findings: The organizational climate score of the libraries was more than average (4.42 of 7). “The climate for customer service” was ranked the first and the climate for justice was ranked the last. The clients’ satisfaction of the libraries was a little more than average (3.3 of 5). “Physical and welfare services” of the libraries was ranked the first in the user satisfaction dimensions. There was no meaningful relation between clients’ satisfaction and organizational climate scores. Conclusion: The managers of libraries should pay more attentions to the various dimensions of organizational climate and clients’ satisfaction to improve them in the libraries

The Features of Cardiovascular Papers and Impact on Citations

Introduction: The number of citations is a factor in evaluating the quality of scientific articles. The present study aims to examine the factors affecting the citation rate of cardiovascular articles. Methods: In this scientometrics study, the research population is all cardiovascular articles in 2014 in Web of Science (WoS), including a sample of 381 articles studied. Pearson correlation coefficient, Mann–Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis, and Bonferroni tests were used to examine the impact of article features on citations. Results: The results indicated that all quantitative variables (title length, number of authors, author's H-index, journal IF, number of pages, number of author's keywords, number of keywords-plus, number of references)had a significant relationship with the number of citations (P-value<0.001), except for the number of article keywords.  All of the qualitative variables (title length, number of authors, author's H-index, journal IF, number of pages, number of author's keywords, number of keywords-plus, number of references) also affect the number of citations (P-value<0.001). Open access articles, articles with the first author from Australia and North America, articles with international collaboration, and meta-analysis articles have received a more citation rate. Conclusion: Paying attention to the factors affecting the citation rate of cardiovascular articles can be of help to cardiovascular centers for policy-making and researchers in determining the research approach. In this way, they can improve the citation of their works