bims-evares Biomed News
on Evaluation of research
Issue of 2019–05–12
nineteen papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society



  1. PLoS One. 2019 ;14(5): e0216126
       AIMS: Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) is a technology widely used in wastewater treatment to remove phosphorus (P) and prevent eutrophication. Establishing its operating efficiency and stability is an active research field that has generated almost 3000 publications in the last 40 years. Due to its size, including over 119 review articles, it is an example of a field where it becomes increasingly difficult to manually recognize its key research contributions, especially for non-experts or newcomers. Therefore, this work included two distinct but complementary objectives. First, to assemble for the first time a collection of bibliometric techniques into a framework for automating the article selection process when preparing a literature review (section 2). Second, to demonstrate it by applying it to the field of EBPR, producing a bibliometric analysis and a review of the key findings of EBPR research over time (section 3).
    FINDINGS: The joint analysis of citation networks, keywords, citation profiles, as well as of specific benchmarks for the identification of highly-cited publications revealed 12 research topics. Their content and evolution could be manually reviewed using a selection of articles consisting of approximately only 5% of the original set of publications. The largest topics addressed the identification of relevant microorganisms, the characterization of their metabolism, including denitrification and the competition between them (Clusters A-D). Emerging and influential topics, as determined by different citation indicators and temporal analysis, were related to volatile fatty acid production, P-recovery from waste activated sludge and aerobic granules for better process efficiency and stability (Clusters F-H).
    CONCLUSIONS: The framework enabled key contributions in each of the constituent topics to be highlighted in a way that may have otherwise been biased by conventional citation-based ranking. Further, it reduced the need for manual input and a priori expertise compared to a traditional literature review. Hence, in an era of accelerated production of information and publications, this work contributed to the way that we are able to use computer-aided approaches to curate information and manage knowledge.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216126
  2. Br Dent J. 2019 May;226(9): 673-678
      Aim We aimed to rank dental journals according to the number of Twitter mentions related to their articles. We set out to analyse and visualise the bibliometric characteristics of highly tweeted articles.Methods Twitter mentions were extracted from the Altmetric database. Bibliometric data were obtained from the Web of Science and analysed by VOSviewer software. Hotspots among highly tweeted articles visualised by keyword co-occurrence network analysis. Bibliographic coupling network analysis was used to find the most influential journals, institutions and countries.Results A total of 20,520 Twitter accounts which shared 93,776 tweets related to 23,686 articles from 91 journals were analysed. The British Dental Journal had the highest number of Twitter mentions related to dental articles. Children, dental caries, and periodontal disease were the hottest topics among the 134 highly tweeted dental articles. @The_BDJ had the highest number of tweets related to dental articles, followed by @Dddent2 and @gary_takacs. @TheBDA had the highest number of followers, followed by @Dddent2 and @The_BDJ.Discussion Ground breaking issues such as genomic medicine, stem cells, tissue engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence were not seen among the highly tweeted dental articles. In the 'Twittersphere', some independent scientists are more active than well-known dental organisations and journals. The journals are strongly recommended to be proactive in Twittersphere, to set up their own Twitter profile, and to promote their visibility and social impact by immediately tweeting the articles. Researchers should be alert to the overuse of Twitter in scholarly communications. The Kardashian index will be a useful tool to measure the over/under activity of a researcher on Twitter.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0212-z
  3. Am J Pharm Educ. 2019 Apr;83(3): 7211
      
    Keywords:  academic promotion; metrics; peer review; publications; research
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7211
  4. Emerg Med Int. 2019 ;2019 8578674
      The aim of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of emergency medicine (EM) research literature to unveil the trends while underlining the importance of experimental research for all territories of science. To this end, the experimental animal research articles published in EM journals indexed to the Science Citation Index Expanded database with a date of publication between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2017, were reviewed retrospectively. All data regarding the journal name, publication year, country, department and institution of the first author, subject species, type of the experimental model, target organ/system/functions, evaluation method, outcome measures, and citation counts were noted. Resultantly, a total of 736 articles were found to be published in 18 journals. Resuscitation (n=285, 38.7%) had the highest number of articles followed by Injury (n=143, 19.4%), Turkish Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery (n=128, 17.4%), and American Journal of Emergency Medicine (n=63, 8.6%). The USA was the largest contributor with 199 studies (27%). The department of the first author was EM in 190 (28.8%) of the reports. Various versions of cardiac arrest models were applied in 257 (34.9%) studies while brain (n=101, 13.7%) was the most commonly explored area. The main outcome measures were clinical outcomes/survival rates (n=408, 55.43%). The molecular mechanisms of the injury were evaluated in 37 (5%) of the studies. In conclusion, experimental animal studies are essential in the progress of contemporary scientific knowledge. EM journals should encourage and consider giving more place to experimental research given their undisputed worth and potential future contributions to science, including the field of EM.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8578674
  5. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2019 May 10. pii: kez163. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVE: Scientific journals and authors are frequently judged on 'impact'. Commonly used traditional metrics are the Impact Factor and H-index. However, both take several years to formulate and have many limitations. Recently, Altmetric-a metric that measures impact in a non-traditional way-has gained popularity. This project aims to describe the relationships between subject matter, citations, downloads and Altmetric within rheumatology.
    METHODS: Data from publications in Rheumatology were used. Articles published from 2010 to 2015 were reviewed. Data were analysed using Stata 14.2 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). Correlation between citations, downloads and Altmetric were quantified using linear regression, comparing across disease topics. Relationship between downloads and months since publications were described using negative binomial regression, clustering on individual articles.
    RESULTS: A total of 1460 Basic Science and Clinical Science articles were identified, with the number of citations, downloads and Altmetric scores. There were no correlations between disease topic and downloads (R2 = 0.016, P = 0.03), citations (R2 = 0.011, P = 0.29) or Altmetric (R2 = 0.025, P = 0.02). A statistically significant positive association was seen between the number of citations and downloads (R2 = 0.29, P < 0.001). No correlations were seen between Altmetric and downloads (R2 = 0.028, P < 0.001) or citations (R2 = 0.004, P = 0.445).
    CONCLUSION: Disease area did not correlate with any of the metrics compared. Correlations were apparent with clear links between downloads and citations. Altmetric identified different articles as high impact compared with citation or download metrics. In conclusion: tweeting about your research does not appear to influence citations.
    Keywords:  altmetric; citations; download; research impact; twitter
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kez163
  6. Glob Health Action. 2019 ;12(1): 1606570
       BACKGROUND: Global health research partnerships, which promote the exchange of ideas, knowledge and expertise across countries, are considered key to addressing complex challenges facing health systems. Yet, many studies report inequalities in these partnerships, particularly in those between high and low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).
    OBJECTIVE: This paper examines global research collaborations on community health worker (CHW) programmes, specifically analysing the structures of authorship teams and networks in publications reporting research on CHW programmes in low-income countries (LICs).
    METHODS: A sub-set of 206 indexed journal articles reporting on CHW programmes in LICs was purposefully selected from a prior review of research authorship on CHW programmes in all LMICs over a five year period (2012-2016). Data on country and primary organisational affiliation and number of publications for all individual authors, programme area (e.g. maternal child health) and total citations per paper were extracted and coded in excel spreadsheets. Data were then exported and analysed in Stata/ICV.14 and Gephi.
    RESULTS: The 206 papers were authored by 1045 authors from 299 institutions, based in 43 countries. Half (50.1%) the authors came from LIC-based institutions, 43.8% from high-income country (HIC) institutions, 2.9% from middle-income country (MIC) institutions and 3.2% had different first affiliations in different publications. Authors based in the USA (302) and UK (68) accounted for just over a third (35.4%) of all authors. Partnership patterns revealed a primary mode of North-South collaboration with authors from the US, and to a lesser extent the UK, playing central bridging roles between institutions. Strong network clusters of multiple-affiliated authors were evident in research on MCH and HIV/TB aspects of CHW programmes.
    CONCLUSION: Knowledge production on CHW programmes in LICs flows predominantly through a pool of connected HIC authors and North-South collaborations. There is a need for strategies harnessing more diverse, including South-South, forms of partnership.
    Keywords:  Research capacity; capacity strengthening; global health partnership; low-middle-income-countries; publications
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2019.1606570
  7. J Transl Med. 2019 May 10. 17(1): 150
       BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. The contemporary strong increase of the adenocarcinomas in Western countries and the high mortality rates require the intensification of prospective multinational studies.
    METHODS: Therefore, this global health issue has been chosen for the bibliometric review of the global publication output. As source for meta and citation data, the Web of Science has been used and Density Equalizing Maps were applied for visualization.
    RESULTS: 17,387 articles on EC could be identified. The years with publication and citation maxima correspond to the appearance of the most prolific articles. China is the most publishing country, followed by Japan and the USA. Germany and the UK ranked 4th and 5th. The analysis of the ratios articles and socio-economic parameters emphasizes the leading position of the Scandinavian countries and Japan. Here, the high-income countries come out on top. The high incidence regions are mainly represented by Chinese and Japanese research. The association of the publication output and the overall research funding could be shown.
    CONCLUSIONS: A strengthened international network increasingly consisting of the scientifically best positioned countries as well as more of the high incidence countries worldwide is mandatory for future research. The findings deliver scientists, clinicians and decision makers backgrounds for future decisions all over the world.
    Keywords:  Adenocarcinoma; Cancer epidemiology; Disease burden; Funding; Incidence; Research trends
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-019-1902-7
  8. Adv Nutr. 2019 May 10. pii: nmz036. [Epub ahead of print]
      Traditional pairwise meta-analysis (PMA) is a very useful method that pools evidence from one study design type if appropriate; its widespread use in nutrition research is an important phenomenon. Recently, a promising method for more advanced evidence-synthesis, called network meta-analysis (NMA), was introduced. NMA is an extension of PMA that enables simultaneous comparison of multiple interventions. NMA combines direct evidence (i.e., trials comparing 2 interventions directly) and indirect evidence (i.e., from a connected route via ≥1 comparators, e.g. placebo) in a network of studies. NMAs have the potential to advance knowledge in the field of nutrition as they provide insights that cannot be obtained by individual 2-arm randomized controlled trials or PMA. Thus, in this perspective paper, we aim to summarize the current (methodologic) status of published NMAs in nutrition research and emphasize advances and strengths in comparison with traditional PMA through specific examples, and highlight potential pitfalls and limitations. NMA is an emerging methodology in the field of nutrition research. A PubMed search identified only 23 nutrition research-related NMAs published since the inception of journals up to January 8, 2019 (61% of them published since 2017), compared with >5000 published PMAs. Moreover, we aim to highlight the scientific concepts and standards through the use of the following NMA example: "Which type of oils/solid fats offers the greatest impact on blood lipids?" In this regard, we discuss intervention definitions, transitivity/similarity, statistical methods, description and visualization of results, inconsistency, ranking, dissemination bias, assessing the certainty of evidence by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation, and reporting guidelines. We expect that rigorously conducted NMAs based on high-quality systematic reviews will become the new evidence synthesis benchmark in nutrition research. However, caution is warranted because abuse and misinterpretations of PMA and NMA findings could hamper the scientific field and possibly decision-making regarding public policy.
    Keywords:  diet; evidence synthesis; network meta-analysis; nutrition; ranking
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz036
  9. J Vector Borne Dis. 2019 Jan-Mar;56(1):56(1): 70-77
       Background & objectives: With the development of technological know-how, in recent years, malaria research in India has advanced to a great extent and the corresponding research is being translated into the form of publications, which has started to pile in thousands over the years. The purpose of the present study was to perform a bibliometric analysis on malaria research in India from its inception.
    Methods: The Web of Science (WoS) platform developed by Clarivate Analytics was utilized to retrieve publications on malaria research in India. The publications were retrieved in bibtex format and were further used for analysis in "R" Bibliometrix package. The analysis included number of publications in each year along with their keywords, title, authors, institutes, abstract, journal name and countries.
    Results: A total of 2334 publications on malaria in India were obtained from 1909 to 2019 (March). The emerging trends on themes of malaria research in India were unraveled with the help of keywords co-occurrence network analysis. The bibliometric analysis shed light on the evolution of journals and trends on choice of journals that the authors made over the years and the contribution of different countries in malaria research.
    Interpretation & conclusion: The bibliometric analysis performed over 110 yr not only contributes towards understanding the trends based on research topics, but also on the importance of data science. Assuming the fact that the number of publications would increase from thousands to lakhs in future; going forward, it has become imperative for the researchers and students to develop methods using computer-based algorithms and carry out literature review which allows for in-depth study of vast amount of literature.
    Keywords:  Bibliometrics; India; keyword co-occurrence; malaria
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-9062.257779
  10. Cureus. 2019 Mar 01. 11(3): e4164
      Feedback is an essential part of learning, growth, and academic success. Junior faculty members are often unfamiliar with the grounding literature that defines feedback. Many times they receive little education on providing and receiving feedback, resulting in unhelpful "feedback" for both learners and program leadership alike. This article aims to summarize eight key papers on feedback, to outline relevant information for emerging clinician educators, and identify ways to use these resources for the faculty development.  In order to generate a list of key papers that describes the importance and significance of feedback, the authors conducted a consensus-building process to identify the top papers. In August and September, 2018, the 2018-2019 Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) Faculty Incubator program discussed the topic of feedback in medical education. A number of papers on the topic was highlighted. This list of papers was further augmented using the suggestions and expertise of guest experts who are leaders in the field of medical education and feedback. The authors also used social media to conduct an open call on Twitter for important papers regarding feedback (utilizing #meded, #Feedback hashtags). Via this process, a list of 88 key papers was identified on the topic of feedback in medical education. After compiling these papers, the authorship group engaged in a modified Delphi approach to build consensus on the top eight papers on feedback. These papers were deemed essential by the authors and have been summarized with respect to their relevance to junior faculty members and to faculty developers. In this manuscript, we present eight key papers addressing feedback in medical education with discussions and applications for junior faculty members and faculty developers. This list of articles that can serve to help junior clinician educators grow in their ability to give effective feedback and also serve as resources upon which senior faculty can design the faculty development sessions.
    Keywords:  curated collection; feedback; formative assessment; medical education; modified delphi method
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.4164
  11. Biomed Res Int. 2019 ;2019 1495130
       Objective: With the development of exosomes studies increased around the whole world. Our present study was aimed to investigate the global status and trends in exosomes field.
    Methods: Publications related to exosomes studies from 1994 to 2017 were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The data source was studied and indexed by using bibliometric methodology. For visualized study, VOS viewer software was used to conduct bibliographic coupling analysis, coauthorship analysis, cocitation analysis, and cooccurrence analysis and to analyze the publication trend in exosomes research.
    Results: A total of 4960 publications were included. The relative research interests and number of publications were increasing per year globally. The USA made the highest contributions to the global research with the most citations, the highest H-index, and the most total link strength, while Sweden had the highest average citation per item. The journal PLOS ONE had the highest publication number. The Natl Canc Ctr was the most contributive institutions. Studies could be divided into three clusters: mechanism study, in vivo study, and in vitro study.
    Conclusions: The efforts should be put into mechanism studies, predicted to be the next hot spots in exosomes studies.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1495130
  12. Cureus. 2019 Feb 25. 11(2): e4131
      Objective The aim of this bibliometric analysis is to evaluate the importance and impact of the articles that have been published with the title gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the specialty of obstetrics & gynecology and endocrinology during the period 1946-2019. It also reveals that the area of GDM has received increased attention and interest by researchers, research funding institutions, and practitioners. Material and methods A thorough database search of Scopus and Web of Science was performed and the articles pertaining to gestational diabetes mellitus that were published between 1946 and 2019 were reviewed by two reviewers, Iftikhar PM and Ali F, with respect to their year of publication, authors, country of origin, journal of publication, and the affiliated institutions of the authors as well as journals. Institutional review board approval was not required for this study, as the data being analyzed were already available electronically, and otherwise, in libraries and databases. Results The 30 most-cited articles on gestational diabetes mellitus were thoroughly analyzed. The top article was cited 5028 times while the least number of citations for any article was 328. Among these 30 articles, five were published in the year 2005, which is the highest number of publications in any given year of the timeline being considered in this study. Most of the articles (n = 18) were from the United States of America, followed by Australia (n = 3); other countries contributed to two or fewer articles. Diabetes Care made most (n = 8) of the list. We found one author who had three publications and the rest contributed two or less articles. The top article in our study was cited almost 5028 times; meanwhile, there are 13 journals from different specialties that have referenced the most cited articles pertaining to gestational diabetes. Conclusion Our bibliometric analysis provides a picture of scientific research, which will help in evidence-based descriptions, comparisons, and visualizations of research output in GDM, and it can be used to explicate and describe the patterns of performance and impact of GDM research.
    Keywords:  bibliometrics; citation classics; citations; gestational diabetes mellitus; impact factor; obstetrics; research; scopus; web of science
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.4131
  13. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2019 Feb 08. pii: S2212-4403(19)30104-X. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVES: To identify the top cited articles about squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, lips, and oropharynx.
    STUDY DESIGN: The Web of Science database was searched for the 100 most cited articles using the algorithm "Oral cancer" OR "Mouth cancer" OR "Oral squamous cell carcinoma" OR "oropharyngeal carcinoma" OR "oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma" OR "lip cancer" OR "lip squamous cell carcinoma." The search was conducted independently by 2 researchers, and the characteristics of the most cited articles were analyzed.
    RESULTS: The most cited articles received a combined total of 38,215 citations. Citation rates ranged from 191 to 2062. The earliest article was published in 1984 and the latest in 2013, but most articles (n = 69) were published in the period between 2000-2010. Articles were published in 46 different journals and were cited on average 33.2 times per year. Articles were originated from 19 different countries, but there was a predominance of articles from United States. Narrative reviews and experimental studies were the most common types among the 100 most cited articles.
    CONCLUSIONS: Etiology and risk factors were the most commonly represented topic in the list of the 100 most cited articles. Narrative reviews and experimental studies are the most common types of studies among the top cited articles.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oooo.2019.01.076
  14. BMC Public Health. 2019 May 09. 19(1): 530
       BACKGROUND: The recent Zika virus (ZIKAV) epidemics disclosed a major public health threat and a scientific and technological (S&T) challenge. The lessons learned from the S&T response of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries are critical to inform further research and guide scientific investments. The present study aimed to assess how new S&T knowledge produced and disseminated regionally can contribute to address global health challenges.
    METHODS: Scientometric and social network analysis methods were used to assess the LAC scientific contribution and potential technological development on ZIKAV up to December 2017. ZIKAV-related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases. Regionally published articles were obtained from SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) and LILACS (Literature in the Health Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean) databases. Patent registries were retrieved using Orbit Intelligence and Derwent Innovation. Records from each database were individually downloaded, integrated, standardized and analyzed.
    RESULTS: We retrieved 5421 ZIKAV-related publications, revealing a sharp increase from 2015 onwards. LAC countries accounted for 20% of all publications and Brazil was among the top three most central countries in the global network for ZIKAV research. A total of 274 patent families backed up by experimental evidence were retrieved. Only 5% were filed by LAC assignees, all of them based in Brazil. The largest contribution of LAC research was on the clinical manifestations of the ZIKAV infection, along with vector control, which was also the main focus of patents.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis offered a comprehensive overview of ZIKAV's research and development and showed that (i) LAC countries had a key role in generating and disseminating scientific knowledge on ZIKAV; (ii) LAC countries have expressively contributed to research on ZIKAV clinical manifestations; (iii) the Brazilian scientific community was potentially very effective in knowledge sharing and diffusion in the ZIKAV research network; (iv) Brazil was the single LAC country filing patents, mostly represented by independent inventors and low-tech patents. The paper advocates the need for a continued interdisciplinary approach to improve LAC countries ability to prevent, prepare for and control future outbreaks.
    Keywords:  Co-authorship networks; Epidemic; Latin America; Patents; Publications; S&T; Zika
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6842-x
  15. J Surg Orthop Adv. 2019 ;28(1): 10-17
      Citation calculations measure academic influence. This study sought to analyze highly cited shoulder arthroplasty articles and determine the best measure to assess their impact. Scopus identified the 50 most cited articles, and each was analyzed for citation number, authors, institution, country of origin, and journal of publication. SPSS 23 was used for descriptive statistics, and a Pearson correlation coefficient assessed the relationship between citation measures. The results revealed an average citation count of 259 ± 108 and a citation density (citation count/years since publication) of 18 ± 10 annually. Most articles originated in the United States (31) and France (9). Twelve surgeons were included on three or more articles. Forty-one studies were clinically based. Finally, correlation was demonstrated between citation count and citation density (r = 0.486, p < .001). In conclusion, this study revealed the trends of highly cited shoulder arthroplasty articles and found citation count and citation density to be acceptable measures of academic influence. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 28(1):10-17, 2019).
  16. J Orthod. 2019 Mar 27. 1465312519840045
       OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the number and proportions, study design, journal publications, authors and countries involved in orthodontic randomised controlled trials (RCTs) over the past 50 years.
    METHOD: A MEDLINE database search (Entrez PubMed, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ) was performed in November 2018 for RCT publications from 1 January 1968 to 31 December 2017. All orthodontic publications, clinical trials (CTs) or RCTs were selected. For each year from 1968 to 2017, the total number of orthodontic publications and total number of CTs and RCTs were computed. Following this, study design, journal publications, authors and countries involved in orthodontic RCTs were noted.
    RESULTS: The RCTs accounted for 0.1% of all orthodontic publications in the 1970s and 1980s, and, following this, the proportion of RCTs was increased and amounted to 2.7% over the past decade (2008-2017). The majority of RCTs were of single centre design (93.4%) and in 88.3% a parallel-arm design was performed. The United States and United Kingdom endorsed 16.9% and 15.5% of the RCTs, followed by Turkey (11.1%), Brazil (7.0%), Sweden (6.6%), China (5.6%), Italy (5.4%), and Germany (4.1%). Of all RCTs, 74.2% were published in 20 orthodontic journals and 25.8% in 81 non-orthodontic journals. The American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Angle Orthodontist, European Journal of Orthodontics and Journal of Orthodontics contributed to 60.2% of all the RCTs.
    CONCLUSION: The considerable increase in orthodontic RCTs over the past 50 years implies an increased scientific impact of orthodontic literature.
    Keywords:  50 years survey; Randomised controlled trial; bibliometry; orthodontics; review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/1465312519840045
  17. Dement Neuropsychol. 2019 Jan-Mar;13(1):13(1): 1-10
      Research into cognitive reserve (CR) and dementia is advancing rapidly. This paper analyses the intellectual structure, emerging trends and relevant shifts in the development of available knowledge. Data collected from the Web-of-Science produced an expanded network of 564 articles and 12,504 citations in the 1998-2017 period. The co-citation network visualized was characterized by a scientometric review using CiteSpace. The results revealed that author Stern Y had the highest number of publications and citations. The network of journals, institutions and countries showed a central-peripheral structure with Neurology, Harvard University and the USA ranked first, respectively. While cognitive reserve remains the most prominent area of research in this field, studies related to functional ability, executive control, mortality data and reserve mechanisms have grown considerably. The identification of critical articles and the development of emerging trends highlights new insights in the area of research, better communicating key findings and facilitating the exploration of data.
    Keywords:  CiteSpace; cognitive reserve; dementia; emerging trends; intellectual structure; patterns
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-57642018dn13-010001
  18. Saudi Med J. 2019 May;40(5): 426-431
       OBJECTIVES: To assess the quality of the meta-analyses (MAs) and systematic reviews (SRs) in Saudi journals indexed in PubMed using 2 scales: A MeaSurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR) and the overview quality assessment questionnaire (OQAQ).
    METHODS: This study focused on SRs/MAs published in 8 Saudi journals. We investigated, screened and extracted the data, which included recording the main topic of each SRs/MAs and the date of publication. Furthermore, we assessed the quality of each included SRs/MAs using the AMSTAR and the OQAQ. The reviews concluded in January 2018. Results: The search uncovered 201 unique articles; of these, the researchers screened 110 full texts and included 103 in this review. Most of the included studies were published in Saudi Medical Journal (50 articles, 48.5%), followed by Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology (21 articles, 20.4%), and Annals of Saudi Medicine (16 articles, 15.5%) . The main topics in these published articles were gastroenterology (20 articles, 19.5%), followed by oncology (14 articles, 13.7%), and pharmacology (9 articles, 8.7%). The AMSTAR and the OQAQ scales showed that most SRs/MAs were of medium quality.
    CONCLUSION: Quality of SRs and MAs published in Saudi journals was distributed in all categories (low, medium, and high) and it can be improved using critical evaluation by authors, journal editors, and readers. PROSPERO REG. NO. CRD: 42018102210.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2019.5.23690