Bibliometric methods for the evaluation of arthritis research. (1/351)

This study uses bibliometric methods to evaluate the magnitude and quality of publications in arthritis research in the UK and compare this with that of other countries. Arthritis research was defined by publication in a specialist journal or by specific title key words or address. Outputs from 13 countries between 1988 and 1995 were analysed by number, research level (from clinical to basic) and potential impact on other researchers (from low to high). The UK has a strong presence in arthritis research and the highest relative commitment of all the countries studied. UK output was more clinical than that of other countries, except Spain, and was of relatively high impact. A second study examined UK arthritis papers supported by different funding sources, including government, private-non-profit and industry. Papers with funding acknowledgements were of significantly higher impact and less clinical than those without. The Arthritis Research Campaign was the leading funder in the UK with high-impact papers which, over the 8 yr period, have become more clinical than those supported by other funding sources, except hospital trusts.  (+info)

Latin American nephrology: scientific production and impact of the publications. (2/351)

BACKGROUND: During the last two decades, there has been a significant change in the origin and impact of the world's biomedical scientific production, particularly in countries in which the investment in research accounts for an important portion of the gross national product (GNP). However, in less developed countries, budget restrictions and the lack of policies toward research may determine a limited growth of the scientific production. METHODS: We examined the number and impact of peer-reviewed publications from Latin America included in the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and MEDLINE databases. In addition, we analyzed the number of abstracts submitted to the congresses of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), American Society of Nephrology (ASN), and Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH). RESULTS: The number of peer-reviewed publications in nephrology from authors in Latin America during the last 20 years represented less than 1% of the world's total. Only 13 out of the 22 Latin American countries accounted for these publications. The citation impact (3.52) was below the world average (7.82). However, this index showed a tendency towards growth in the five most productive countries. Likewise, the number of abstracts submitted to international meetings of nephrology by authors in Latin American countries has shown a steady growth in the recent years, but remains proportionately low compared with the rest of the world. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that although efforts toward improving the quantity and quality of research in Latin America have been made, the final results are less than other regions in the world. Possible factors responsible for the low performance include a failure in academic motivation and lack of pressure for publication, as well as limited research funding. Therefore, important efforts from local and international nephrological communities are needed to boost research in Latin America.  (+info)

Systematic overview of cost-utility assessments in oncology. (3/351)

PURPOSE: Cost-utility analyses (CUAs) present the value of an intervention as the ratio of its incremental cost divided by its incremental survival benefit, with survival weighted by utilities to produce quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). We critically reviewed the CUA literature and its role in informing clinical oncology practice, research priorities, and policy. METHODS: The English-language literature was searched between 1975 and1997 for CUAs. Two readers abstracted from each article descriptions of the clinical situation and patients, the methods used, study perspective, the measures of effectiveness, costs included, discounting, and whether sensitivity analyses were performed. The readers then made subjective quality assessments. We also extracted utility values from the reviewed papers, along with information on how and from whom utilities were measured. RESULTS: Our search yielded 40 studies, which described 263 health states and presented 89 cost-utility ratios. Both the number and quality of studies increased over time. However, many studies are at variance with current standards. Only 20% of studies took a societal perspective, more than a third failed to discount both the costs and QALYs, and utilities were often simply estimates from the investigators or other physicians. CONCLUSION: The cost-utility literature in oncology is not large but is rapidly expanding. There remains much room for improvement in the methodological rigor with which utilities are measured. Considering quality-of-life effects by incorporating utilities into economic studies is particularly important in oncology, where many therapies obtain modest improvements in response or survival at the expense of nontrivial toxicity.  (+info)

Citius, altius, fortius in 2001. (4/351)

Since the inclusion of the Croatian Medical Journal into MEDLINE (1998) and Current Contents/Clinical Medicine (1999), the number of manuscripts submitted to it for publication has been continually increasing. This fact required many changes in the Journal and its editorial policy. The editorial board has decided to increase the number of issues published per year from four to six. To improve the scientific quality of the journal, the Croatian Medical Journal Committee of Research Integrity has been established. The committee will actively deal with all aspects of research integrity related to submitted manuscripts. More attention will also be paid to statistical review of the manuscripts. Another innovation, which aims at medical student readership, is the launch of the Student CMJ. It will be published once a year as part of the Croatian Medical Journal. Also, a regular new column under the title Health Watch starts with this year. Hopefully, all these changes will contribute to the Journal's quality, increase its visibility, and attract a broader readership.  (+info)

Chairpersons of pathology in the United States. Benchmarks for academic publications and professional credentials. (5/351)

Chairpersons of pathology often are viewed as departmental role models in academic medical centers. To objectify this view, we undertook a systematic survey of publication records and professional certification among 126 chairpersons in the United States. The median of the total number of scientific publications by the cohort was 105 since graduation from medical school, and the median yearly number of peer-reviewed papers was 3.34 per person (mean, 4.25). A random 10% of the study population was analyzed further with reference to the percentage of publications that reflected basic science research; 41% of the total literature contributions of this subgroup fit that description, and only 38% of the chairpersons in the subgroup had 80% or more non-service-related publications. Of all chairpersons, 85% had obtained primary board certification in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, or both, and 25% of the group had earned at least 1 subspecialty board certificate in addition. These numbers reflect an evolution in the professional backgrounds of chairpersons of pathology such that demands for academic scholarship and proficiency in hospital practice and management seem to pertain to that group.  (+info)

Medical research in Israel and the Israel biomedical database. (6/351)

The data collected for the second edition of the Directory of Medical Research in Israel and the Israel Biomedical Database have yielded very relevant information concerning the distribution of investigators, publication activities and funding sources. The aggregate data confirm the findings of the first edition published in 1996 [2]. Those facts endorse the highly concentrated and extensive nature of medical research in the Jerusalem area, which is conducted at the Hebrew University and its affiliated hospitals. In contrast, Tel Aviv University, whose basic research staff is about two-thirds the size of the Hebrew University staff, has a more diffuse relationship with its clinical staff who are located at more than half a dozen hospitals. Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva and the Technion in Haifa are smaller in size, but have closer geographic contact between their clinical and basic research staff. Nonetheless, all the medical schools and affiliated hospitals have good publication and funding records. It is important to note that while some aspects of the performance at basic research institutions seem to be somewhat better than at hospitals, the records are actually quite similar despite the greater burden of clinical services at the hospitals as compared to teaching responsibilities in the basic sciences. The survey also indicates the substantial number of young investigators in the latest survey who did not appear in the first survey. While this is certainly encouraging, it is also disturbing that the funding sources are apparently decreasing at a time when young investigators are attempting to become established and the increasing burden of health care costs precludes financial assistance from hospital sources. The intensity and undoubtedly the quality of medical research in Israel remains at a level consistent with many of the more advanced western countries. This conclusion is somewhat mitigated by the fact that there is a decrease in available funding and a measurable decrease in scholarly activity at a time when a new, younger generation of investigators is just beginning to become productive. In closing, we wish to stress that the collection of data for the Biomedical Database is a continuing project and we encourage all medical researches who may not have contributed relevant information to write to the Office of the Chief Scientist or contact the office by email.  (+info)

Factors related to biomedical research productivity in Asian countries. (7/351)

By and large, biomedical research is not a priority sector in Asian countries due to many factors. Lack of resources and trained manpower are certainly among these factors. We investigated the factors related to biomedical research productivity in Asian countries based on Medline data. The number of biomedical articles published in the indexed journals from each country of Asia and Oceania during 1990-1998 was used as a surrogate of total biomedical research productivity. Multiple regression analysis revealed that low gross national product per capita (p<0.013), insufficient number of physicians (p<0.047), and inadequate public spending on the health sector (p<0.049) were responsible for the meager number of biomedical publications in Asian countries.  (+info)

CHROMA: consensus-based colouring of multiple alignments for publication. (8/351)

CHROMA annotates multiple protein sequence alignments by consensus to produce formatted and coloured text suitable for incorporation into other documents for publication. The package is designed to be flexible and reliable, and has a simple-to-use graphical user interface running under Microsoft Windows. Both the executables and source code for CHROMA running under Windows and Linux (portable command-line only) are freely available at http://www.lg.ndirect.co.uk/chroma. Software enquiries should be directed to [email protected].  (+info)