Survey of Medical Research Publications

Abstract

a survey was conducted on the number of scientific publications written by the faculty members at the College of Medicine, Abha, over an eight-year period between 1988 and 1995. The survey showed that there were 139 publications during this period, and that they mostly covered local health problems of significant clinical interest to the region.The Medline-on-Silver-Platter system and the database of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) were used as the sources. The database of KACST was accessed through the King Saud University Gulfnet terminals available at the College. The search parameters were Abha and Saudi Arabia. Publications cited in the 1996 Medline disc were not counted in the search because they were not yet complete. The results of the search were fed into a desktop computer. Another search using the Reference Manager software version 7.02 was used to extract the required publications. Final sorting of references was done manually to exclude duplicate articles, and other articles published elsewhere.The number of publications cited in the Medline database for the eight-year period (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995) was 114, while those cited by the KACST database was 25, consisting mainly of publications in local journals. The largest number of articles were published in 1992 and 1995 (39 and 33 respectively). The number of publications, though relatively modest, nevertheless represents an impressive source of information about the region from a junior college which began graduating doctors in 1987. It should also be mentioned that the actual number of publications is much larger than what has been cited from these two sources. A large amount of research work has been published in journals that are not listed by either the Medline System or by the KACST database.The significance of such research work is being reflected in the improving health services offered by the College, and in its contribution to the pool of knowledge in basic medical sciences.