Ten‐year publication trends in dermatology in mainland China

Abstract

Background China has been experiencing huge changes in all aspects including dermatologic research since its reform in 1978. However, how the economic and intellectual development has influenced the publication trends in the field of dermatology, which could mirror the scientific development in other medical disciplines, is unknown. In the present study, we analyzed the publication trends from departments of dermatology in mainland China from 2002 to 2011. Materials and Methods All publication data were obtained from www.pubmed.com. Only papers published from dermatology departments of mainland China were used for analysis. Results The number of publications increased 10-fold over this 10 year period. A total 1,231 of articles were published in English in 251 journals between 2002 and 2011. A total of 129 journals published only one paper from dermatology departments of mainland China. Over 60% of articles were original research and 21.7% were case reports. Among these 251 journals, foremost was the Journal of Clinical Experimental Dermatology, which published 5.9% of all papers from mainland China. 2.7% papers were published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. The number of publications positively correlated with the changes in gross domestic product per capita during the study period. Conclusions These results suggest that the number of publications in the dermatology field has increased markedly in mainland China over the last 10 years. This dramatic increase in publications could be, at least partially, attributed to the significant improvement in economic conditions in mainland China.

Comparison of publication trends in dermatology among Japan, South Korea and Mainland China

“…As seen in Figure 3a, GDPPCs in both Japan and South Korea increased linearly from 2002 to 2011. In contrast to the finding in developing country, mainland China [6], the number of publications did not correlate with the GDPPC in either Japan or South Korea (Figure 3b). The increased in GDPPC without increasing the number of publications could reflect an improvement in the quality of publications, as measured by impact factor per paper.…”

“…We used the journals’ impact factors to determine changes in the quality of publications in Japan and South Korea between 2003 and 2012. Since the average impact factors rose steadily from 2002 to 2011 in a developing country, mainland China [ 6 ], we next assessed whether the quality of publications in South Korea and Japan also improved over the last 10 years. For better comparison, data of impact factor per paper in dermatology in mainland China over this period were also added.…”

“…For correlation of impact factor per paper with the number of publication, Two-tailed Pearson test was used to determine significance (Figure 2 b ). Part of data (2003–2011) for mainland China in 3a was reported earlier [ 6 ].…”

“…For instance, number of publications in otolaryngology research increased by over 80% from the year 1995 to 2000 [ 4 ]. The number of publications also increased in the dermatology field year by year [ 5 , 6 ]. There are many determinants, such as gross domestic product (GDP), number of medical school, number of dermatologists, language skills as well as population size that influence the quantity and quality of publications [ 1 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…Funding, which is closely associated with economic conditions, is a key factor that impacts scientific productivity [ 9 , 10 ]. Although the number of publications strongly correlates with GDP [ 1 , 6 ], GDP does not always influence scientific productivity in certain nations. For example, from 2001 to 2010, the number of publications in anesthesia journals from the United States declined from 412 to 361, despite the fact that NIH funding for anesthesia research increased [ 11 ] and the GDP per capita increased from $35,912 to $46,612 during that period.…”