bims-evares Biomed News
on Evaluation of research
Issue of 2026–06–07
twenty papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. Rising global Ties in orthopaedic research: A 30-year analysis of high-impact journals.
  2. Publication patterns of posters and oral presentations at the annual joint AANS/CNS Spine Summit.
  3. Australian Podiatry Research in Workforce and Education: A Bibliometric Analysis.
  4. First and last authors more likely to be men in leading science journals.
  5. Citing the Literature.
  6. A Bibliometric Analysis of the Most Influential and Impactful Plastic Surgery Publications From Saudi Arabia.
  7. Mapping the scholarly landscape of Saudi Arabia-related folk medicine: a bibliometric study.
  8. Bibliometrics of biomedical publications in the journal “La Tunisie Médicale” (2000-2019).
  9. A bibliometric analysis of Neuropsychology's published corpus (1987-2024): How has the science evolved, and does study content impact citation rates?
  10. Knowledge graph-enhanced heterogeneous graph neural network for scientific talent innovation potential identification.
  11. Mapping the landscape of psychological literature on threat from 1961 to 2023 through structural topic modeling.
  12. What's behind China's historically high counts of corresponding authors?
  13. Network analysis revealing research focus of the German Congress of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery 2021.
  14. The obesity-osteoarthritis nexus: A bibliometric analysis of global research trends and emerging frontiers.
  15. Research integrity and transparency in CAM journals: an analysis of publication bias and reporting practices (1995-2023) in four leading journals.
  16. The UN SDGs as a global 'directive shift' and the institutionalization of sustainability research.
  17. Improving acknowledgments sections to better credit research contributors.
  18. Iran's great scientific divergence: The Middle-Income trap and the Political Economy of Science Policy.
  19. Unmasking manels: a gender disparity exposé in major gynecologic surgery congresses in France and Europe.
  20. Who gets in, who gets cited, who gets promoted: informal networks in Kazakhstani academia.
  1. J Orthop Sci. 2026 Jun 01. pii: S0949-2658(26)00148-X. [Epub ahead of print]
    Rising global Ties in orthopaedic research: A 30-year analysis of high-impact journals.
    Jayant Gupta, Lincoln D Koyejo, Benjamin R Paul, Sean Renfree, Collin Braithwaite, Joshua Bingham.
       BACKGROUND: International collaboration has increased across scientific fields, yet its role within orthopaedic surgery remains poorly defined. Although global orthopaedic research output has expanded, the extent of international authorship within leading journals and its relationship to academic influence are not well understood. This study examined long-term publication patterns to compare international and single-country authorship and to determine whether collaborative research is associated with greater citation impact.
    METHODS: This bibliometric study analyzed 91,799 original research articles published from 1990 to 2019 in fifteen major orthopaedic journals. Articles were classified as single-country publications or international collaborations based on the institutional affiliations of contributing authors. Citation counts and citations per publication per year were calculated. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the association between international collaboration and citation impact while adjusting for established citation-related factors. Propensity score matching using a three-to-one nearest-neighbor approach was performed to reduce confounding.
    RESULTS: Of 91,799 articles, single-country publications accounted for 87.7 percent overall but decreased over time, while international collaborations increased from 5.9 percent in the 1990s to 15.8 percent in the 2010s. Collaborative publications received more total citations and more citations per publication per year than single-country publications. Collaborative studies also had more authors, keywords, and references, and were more likely to report funding and open access. Regression and matched analyses identified international collaboration as an independent predictor of higher citation impact. The United States produced the largest number of publications and demonstrated higher citation rates when collaborating internationally.
    CONCLUSIONS: International collaboration in orthopaedic research has increased substantially and is associated with greater academic influence compared with research conducted within a single country. These findings highlight the value of global engagement in producing high-impact orthopaedic scholarship.
    Keywords:  Bibliometric analysis; Citation impact; International collaboration; Orthopaedic research; Research productivity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jos.2026.05.009
  2. J Neurosurg Spine. 2026 Jun 05. 1-7
    Publication patterns of posters and oral presentations at the annual joint AANS/CNS Spine Summit.
    Hendrick Francois, Mohamed A R Soliman, Esteban Quiceno, Bernard K Okai, Jacob D Greisman, Asham Khan, Hannon W Levy, Deana G Chan, John Pollina, Jeffrey P Mullin.
       OBJECTIVE: The American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves' annual Spine Summit brings together researchers and specialists to collaborate and advance science. An increase in publication patterns in neurosurgical journals has been seen in recent years, reflecting advancements in the 21st century. However, previous studies on publication patterns for the Spine Summit are outdated and do not account for recent clinical and technological advancements. The aim of this study was to assess recent publication patterns to compare them with previous trends to explore recent changes and developments.
    METHODS: Abstract titles from Spine Summits between 2014 and 2020 were searched using PubMed and Google Scholar, with matches between presentations and articles defined by similarities in title, authors, methods, and results. Collected variables included article title, first author, publication year, journal impact factor, and citation counts from the Scopus database. Due to a change in presentation format in 2015, analysis was conducted separately for 2014 (oral platform vs oral posters) and collectively for 2015 through 2020 (awarded vs nonawarded oral presentation abstracts).
    RESULTS: A total of 1592 abstracts were analyzed, with a publication rate of 64.5% (n = 1027) and a mean time from presentation to publication of 0.92 ± 1.14 years. Notably, 57.7% (n = 919) of presented abstracts were published within 4 years. The number of presented abstracts in 2020 reached 297, a 290.8% increase from 2014. Papers based on these abstracts appeared in 109 journals, accumulating 23,126 citations, with a mean of 24.79 ± 35.26 citations per article. The top 5 journals with the most abstract-associated publications, representing the highest percentages of all abstract-related publications, were World Neurosurgery (14.5% [149/1027]), Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine (14.8% [152/1027]), Neurosurgery (10.9% [112/1027]), Spine (8.8% [90/1027]), and The Spine Journal (6.4% [66/1027]). The percentage of presented abstracts that were published as articles between 2014 and 2020 significantly increased to 64.5% from 54% between 2009 and 2012 (p < 0.05).
    CONCLUSIONS: Almost two-thirds of the abstract-based articles were published in peer-reviewed journals. Compared with an earlier study on publication trends for abstracts presented at the Spine Summit, there has been a notable increase.
    Keywords:  Spine Summit; journals; publication patterns; trends
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3171/2025.11.SPINE25876
  3. J Foot Ankle Res. 2026 Jun;19(2): e70168
    Australian Podiatry Research in Workforce and Education: A Bibliometric Analysis.
    Malia Ho, Peta Tehan, Matthew R Carroll, Cylie Williams.
       BACKGROUND: To conduct a bibliographic analysis of English language research pertaining to podiatry workforce and education by Australian authors.
    METHODS: The Scopus database search was conducted to identify all Australian workforce and education-related articles published by podiatric authors in English from 1970 to 2024. Bibliometric analysis was performed using Biblioshiny, a web-based graphical interface for the bibliometric R package. Citations, journals, authors, institutions, and countries were described. Publications were manually categorised according to research type, level of evidence and funding source.
    RESULTS: The search strategy yielded 105 eligible articles, which received a total of 975 citations and were published by 338 authors in 33 journals. The most frequent journal was Journal of Foot and Ankle Research (34 articles; 32%), and the most frequently cited was the University of South Australia (affiliation of 85 authors). Most Australian workforce and education articles published by podiatrists focused on health and social care services research (n = 60; 57%) and only five articles (5%) provided level I evidence. Fifty-six articles (53%) reported no research funding. Research generally fell under four themes.
    CONCLUSION: Workforce and education research make up a small percentage of podiatry-related research. Most are published in low-impact journals with low citations. The articles are highly collaborative, with multiple authors nationally and internationally. Studies are driven by academics with a vested interest in workforce and education issues, with little or no funding. There is a lack of research in continuing professional development educational activities and workforce in the private sector. Being a small profession, podiatry data may be missed in large allied health workforce studies. Podiatry workforce and education research must be driven by the profession, thereby creating opportunities for sustainable podiatry career growth.
    Keywords:  bibliometric analysis; education; foot; podiatry; publications; research; workforce
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jfa2.70168
  4. Nature. 2026 Jun 02.
    First and last authors more likely to be men in leading science journals.
    Rachel Nuwer, Vera Nienaber.
      
    Keywords:  Authorship; Careers; Publishing; Research data
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01495-8
  5. Perspect Behav Sci. 2026 Jun;49(2): 385-392
    Citing the Literature.
    Rachel H Thompson.
      Meticulous literature citation is a cornerstone of science, yet citations in published articles mischaracterize the cited work with concerning frequency. There appears to be limited emphasis on citation practices in graduate research training. This tutorial emphasizes the scientific importance of careful citation and the potential costs of careless citation practices. Recommendations are aimed at promoting citations that clearly and accurately represent the cited work. This article provides a resource to encourage more careful citation with the goal of bringing the behavior of scientists under tighter control of the literature and promoting dissemination of work that connects the reader with a systematic body of knowledge.
    Keywords:  Citation; Citation errors; Graduate training; Research ethics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-025-00490-0
  6. Saudi Med J. 2026 Feb;47(2): 304-317
    A Bibliometric Analysis of the Most Influential and Impactful Plastic Surgery Publications From Saudi Arabia.
    Hatan Mortada, Abdulaziz Alnufaei, Amal Tuaki Aljuaid, Zainab Ahmed Al Hubail, Waad Nawaf Alanazi, Abdulaziz Suleiman Jasaniah, Sarah Abdullah Ramzi, Amr Youssef Arkoubi.
       Objective: To analyze the most cited plastic surgery articles from Saudi Arabia, focusing on publication trends, leading contributors, collaboration patterns, and thematic areas.
    Methods: We conducted a bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science Core Collection (1990-2025). Keywords covering plastic surgery subfields were combined with geographic identifiers ("Saudi Arabia," "KSA," "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia") using Boolean operators. Only English-language original and review articles were included. Citation metrics, authorship networks, and keyword co-occurrence were analyzed with VOSviewer and the bibliometrix R package.
    Results: We identified 1,013 Saudi-affiliated plastic surgery publications, receiving 7,929 citations. The top 100 most-cited articles averaged 39.3 citations (range: 19-283). King Saud University was the leading institution, contributing 59 articles. Dr. Mohammad M. Al-Qattan was the most prolific author, with first authorship on 52 publications. Hand surgery dominated the thematic spectrum (36%), followed by peripheral nerve (14%) and aesthetic surgery (12%). International collaboration occurred in 21 articles (22.8%), mainly with the United States and Canada. Nearly half of the studies (49%) were Level IV evidence.
    Conclusion: Saudi Arabia has achieved a notable presence in plastic surgery literature, especially in hand and peripheral nerve surgery. However, the concentration of authorship and reliance on lower-level evidence highlight the need for broader collaboration, prospective study designs, and greater methodological rigor to strengthen future contributions.
    Keywords:  Bibliometric analysis; Citation trends; Plastic surgery; Research collaboration; Saudi Arabia; VOSviewer
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15537/1658-3175.1012
  7. Libyan J Med. 2026 Dec 31. 21(1): 2681841
    Mapping the scholarly landscape of Saudi Arabia-related folk medicine: a bibliometric study.
    Mohammed M Ghoneim, Eslam Kamal Fahmy, Manal Nael, Mohamed El-Sherbiny, Rasha Hamed Al-Serwi, Saddam Hossain, Khaled Elokely, Naved Ahmad.
      Folk medicine remains an important component of health practices in Saudi Arabia and continues to attract growing scholarly attention. This study maps the scholarly landscape of folk medicine research related to Saudi Arabia by examining publication trends, author keywords, collaboration among institutions and countries, and the impact of authors and sources. Publications were retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science databases using Saudi Arabia as the country affiliation. After PRISMA-guided identification, screening, deduplication, and eligibility assessment, 2527 publications published between 1989 and 2024 were retained for analysis. Bibliometrix was used for bibliometric computation and visualization, and VOSviewer was used to map country co-authorship and keyword co-occurrence networks. The results show sustained growth in publication output, strong participation by Saudi institutions, and broad international collaboration. The most prominent research themes were antioxidant activity, antimicrobial properties, herbal medicine, and traditional medicine. These findings provide a bibliometric overview of knowledge production in this area and may inform future systematic, clinical, and policy-oriented research on traditional medicine in Saudi Arabia.
    Keywords:  Traditional medicine; ancestral medicine; cultural healing practices; folk medicine; herbal medicine; indigenous medicine
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/19932820.2026.2681841
  8. Tunis Med. 2026 Jan 10. 104(1):
    Bibliometrics of biomedical publications in the journal “La Tunisie Médicale” (2000-2019).
    Asma Ben Abdelaziz, Youssef Zanina, Najeh Adaily, Rihab Moncer, Mohamed Khelil, Ahmed Ben Abdelaziz.
       OBJECTIVE: To describe the editorial, methodological, and thematic typology of biomedical publications in the journal "La Tunisie Médicale" (Tunis Med) over a 20-year period.
    METHODS: This was a bibliometric study of publications in Tunis Med (ISSN 0041-4131) between 2000 and 2019, based on MEDLINE consultation (via Web of Science), using MeSH descriptors, in the two decades A (2000-2009) and B (2010-2019).
    RESULTS: Between 2000-2019, 4,135 publications (A=1,989;B=2,146) were published by Tunis Med by 12,402 authors (A=6,156;B=8,150), and indexed by 5,153 MeSH descriptors (A=3,554;B=3,616). Classified mainly in the research areas "Pediatrics" (30%) and "Geriatrics/Gerontology" (26%), their "MeSH Qualifiers" were mainly clinical: "diagnosis" (37%), "Etiology" (28%) and "Complications" (24%). While writing in English increased considerably (A=8%;B=54%), the measures "Survival" (A=29;B=16) and "Multivariate Analysis" (A=9;B=11) continued to be little applied. Biological factors ("Pregnancy", "Age", "Consanguinity") and those associated with health systems ("Hospitalization", "Patient Satisfaction", "Length Of Stay") were the most studied health determinants. Neoplastic and cardiovascular diseases were the most explored health problems, including "Lung Neoplasms" (A=32;B=51), «Kidney Neoplasms» (A:10; B:25), "Bone Neoplasms" (A=17;B=28), "Hypertension" (A=31;B=26), "Myocardial Infarction" (A=26;B=15), and "Heart Failure" (A=16;B=7). The most explored surgical procedures were: "Laparoscopy" (A=33;B=31), "Cesarean Section" (A=21; B=15), and "Kidney Transplantation" (A=10;B=14).
    CONCLUSION: Between 2000-2019, Tunis Med publications focused on non-communicable diseases. Despite transitioning to English, they rarely employed advanced statistical measures and high-level evidence-based study designs. Strengthening their methodological approaches is essential to enhance the journal's international visibility and reputation.
    Keywords:  Bibliometrics; Biostatistics; Cardiovascular Diseases; Evidence-Based Practice; Geriatrics; MEDLINE; Neoplasms; Pediatrics; Periodicals as Topic; Publications; Tunisia
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.62438/tunismed.v104i01.6269
  9. Neuropsychology. 2026 Jun 04.
    A bibliometric analysis of Neuropsychology's published corpus (1987-2024): How has the science evolved, and does study content impact citation rates?
    Steven Paul Woods, Ryan Van Patten, Zachary J Kunicki, Cady Block, Emily M Briceño, Matthew Calamia, Alexandra L Clark, John-Christopher A Finley, Jacob D Jones, Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca, Sarah Prieto, Sarah Tomaszewski Farias.
       OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to provide an in-depth bibliographic analysis of Neuropsychology's published corpus as a window into the scientific interests, approaches, and priorities of the field of neuropsychology. The primary aims were to examine the ways in which Neuropsychology's published content (a) has changed over time and (b) influences citation rates.
    METHOD: A total of 2,403 abstracts published in Neuropsychology from 1987 to 2024 were coded according to article type, study population, design elements, methodology, ability domains, and miscellaneous topics (e.g., digital technology, everyday functioning). A university librarian provided 2024 citation data from Scopus for the 2,209 articles published during the years 1987 to 2021.
    RESULTS: Over the past 37 years, Neuropsychology has experienced a moderate increase in studies that are empirical/data-driven, employ longitudinal designs, integrate biological markers and survey/questionnaire methods, and examine executive functions, culture/social determinants of health, and everyday functioning. Studies that use true experimental designs and focus on lower order domains (e.g., sensory/perceptual), visuospatial function, and memory peaked in the mid-1990s and are associated with lower citation rates in the modern era. On the other hand, review articles, studies with longitudinal designs, and articles that examined culture/social determinants of health and everyday functioning had higher citation rates.
    CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest a temporal shift in the field's published content toward more empirically driven, functionally relevant, and contextually informed research. Future bibliographic work is needed to understand how these historical publishing trends align with related disciplines (e.g., behavioral neurology) and to identify the core drivers of citation patterns in neuropsychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0001095
  10. Sci Rep. 2026 Jun 01.
    Knowledge graph-enhanced heterogeneous graph neural network for scientific talent innovation potential identification.
    Rong Wang.
      Traditional talent evaluation methods predominantly rely on static bibliometric indicators that fail to capture the dynamic evolution patterns and potential innovative capabilities of researchers. This study proposes a novel knowledge graph-enhanced heterogeneous graph neural network framework for identifying innovation potential in scientific talents. The framework integrates multi-source heterogeneous academic data to construct a comprehensive knowledge graph encompassing researchers, publications, institutions, and research topics, while employing meta-path-based attention mechanisms to selectively aggregate information from diverse entity types and relationships. A gated fusion strategy adaptively combines semantic embeddings from knowledge graphs with structural features from academic networks, enabling comprehensive talent representation learning. Experimental validation on a dataset containing 128,456 researchers across multiple disciplines demonstrates superior performance, achieving 85.21% accuracy and 0.9014 AUC-ROC score, representing significant improvements of 6.3% over state-of-the-art baseline models. The proposed approach exhibits particular effectiveness in identifying early-career researchers with high innovation potential, addressing cold-start problems inherent in conventional evaluation systems. This research provides a generalizable methodology for knowledge-augmented graph representation learning and offers practical solutions for intelligent talent management in research institutions.
    Keywords:  Graph neural network; Heterogeneous network; Innovation potential; Knowledge graph; Scientific evaluation; Talent identification
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-54613-x
  11. PLoS One. 2026 ;21(6): e0350996
    Mapping the landscape of psychological literature on threat from 1961 to 2023 through structural topic modeling.
    Huixiang Ouyang, Ching Wan, Ronald Fischer.
      The past decades have generated a substantial volume of psychological literature on threat. However, the absence of systematic cross-field synthesis has resulted in limited understanding of major research domains and relationships between different lines of threat research. We analyzed 51,903 psychological publications on threat retrieved from APA PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection that were published between 1961 and 2023. We conducted structural topic modeling on publication titles and abstracts to identify key research topics, and network analysis on the resulting topics to map the thematic structure of the literature. 25 topics emerged, organized into four thematic areas through exploratory graph analysis: 1) threat processing mechanisms, 2) health and clinical threats, 3) social psychological threats, and 4) collective threats. Network analysis revealed differential connectivity patterns within and between thematic areas. Areas showed limited connectivity with each other and no area emerged as a central hub, suggesting gaps in cross-domain integration. Topic prevalence trends revealed diversification in research interest over time, together with responsiveness to broader developments within psychology and evolving societal concerns. Notably, mechanism-focused research declined over the past decade while event-driven research on specific threats increased, indicating reactive rather than theory-driven investigation. These findings provide insights into the landscape of psychological literature on threat and reveal critical gaps in current examinations alongside strategic opportunities to advance cross-field integration.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0350996
  12. Nature. 2026 Jun 04.
    What's behind China's historically high counts of corresponding authors?
    Dalmeet Singh Chawla.
      
    Keywords:  Authorship; Institutions; Policy; Publishing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01623-4
  13. Technol Health Care. 2026 Jun 05. 9287329261450047
    Network analysis revealing research focus of the German Congress of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery 2021.
    Jonas Roos, Andreas Christian Strauss, Sebastian Koob, Frank Sebastian Fröschen, Alberto Alfieri Zellner, Martin Gathen, Dieter Christian Wirtz, Tom Jansen, Robert Kaczmarczyk.
      BackgroundThe German congress for orthopedics and trauma surgery is the largest congress of this specialty in Europe. It reflects the latest scientific achievements and thus has a lasting impact on both, clinical practice and research. Understanding what is currently moving the specialist groups therefore helps to understand where orthopedics and trauma surgery is heading.MethodsContribution titles, topics, authors, and cities were extracted from the German Medical Science database (https://www.egms.de/) and using three distinct network analyses: an author network, a city network, and an entity network. Internal ratings were obtained from the congress committee for further elaboration.ResultsThe congress comprised 696 accepted papers, most of which were presented in German (72.41%) and in the form of lectures (57.61%), focusing on topics such as "spine," "basic research" and "polytrauma." The city network revealed geographical clusters, with Berlin, Munich and Dresden forming the most closely networked nodes. In the entity network, three major communities emerged, focusing on clinical care, fracture research and joint-related studies. Of the 1232 submissions, 85.80% received a majority favorable review, and 56.49% were accepted, with the acceptance rate increasing in proportion to the review score.ConclusionThe analysis of the DKOU 2021 revealed a broad scientific focus and research communities centered on clinical care, fracture studies and joint-related research. Transparent evaluation processes and global longitudinal comparisons are recommended to align research with the global burden of disease, taking into account the limitations of congress-based analyses and the influence of external factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
    Keywords:  Germany; Orthopedics; bibliometrics; congresses as topic; network analysis; traumatology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/09287329261450047
  14. Exp Gerontol. 2026 Jun 01. pii: S0531-5565(26)00169-5. [Epub ahead of print]221 113190
    The obesity-osteoarthritis nexus: A bibliometric analysis of global research trends and emerging frontiers.
    Haofeng Yin, Yingying Du, Shilin Lian, Biao Yang, Weijin Zhang, Haoqin Zhan, Zhaoyu Lv, Zhengyan Dou, Xuhui Zhou.
       BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis represents a prevalent degenerative joint disorder. Obesity influences its onset and progression through multifactorial mechanisms encompassing biomechanical stress and systemic inflammation. This study aims to delineate the current research landscape and identify emerging thematic frontiers.
    METHODS: Literature pertaining to obesity and osteoarthritis was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database, spanning publications from January 2006 to November 2025. Bibliometric analyses were conducted using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and the Bibliometrix R package.
    RESULTS: A total of 4956 publications were analyzed, revealing a consistent linear growth trajectory. The United States emerged as the predominant contributor, yielding the highest publication output (n = 1643) and citation impact (total citations = 103,451). The University of Sydney constitutes a pivotal institution within this field. Journals including Osteoarthritis and Cartilage and Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases served as principal platforms for high-impact scholarship. David J. Hunter was identified as the most influential author. Keyword clustering delineated inflammation, exercise, prevalence, total knee arthroplasty, body composition, and hyaluronic acid as core research domains, whereas contemporary frontiers converge on adipokines, apoptosis, and oxidative stress.
    CONCLUSION: Research at the obesity-osteoarthritis nexus has attracted considerable attention in recent years. This bibliometric analysis elucidates the interrelationship between these conditions while clarifying prevailing research priorities and developmental trajectories, thereby informing future investigative directions.
    Keywords:  Bibliometrics; Obesity; Osteoarthritis; Visualized analysis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2026.113190
  15. Res Integr Peer Rev. 2026 Jun 06.
    Research integrity and transparency in CAM journals: an analysis of publication bias and reporting practices (1995-2023) in four leading journals.
    Stephen Neilson, Kevin Smith.
       BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) remains widely used worldwide, yet longstanding concerns persist regarding the balance and reliability of the evidence presented in CAM journals.
    OBJECTIVE: To examine long-term trends in publication practices within leading CAM journals, with particular attention to changes in publication types and the prevalence of positive versus negative study outcomes as indirect indicators of potential publication bias.
    METHODS: We conducted a complete census of articles published in four leading CAM journals at two contemporary time points (2018 and 2023), replicating the design and classification framework of a seminal 2001 analysis covering 1995 and 2000. Articles were categorised by publication type, subject area, and author-reported study outcome (positive, negative, or inconclusive, corresponding to the "open" category used in the original 2001 study). Descriptive analyses were used to compare trends over time and with earlier findings.
    RESULTS: The total number of published articles increased substantially between the earlier and contemporary periods. The proportion of empirical studies, particularly clinical trials, rose over time. However, the prevalence of positive outcomes also increased markedly, with positive findings accounting for over 80% of published articles in the contemporary period, compared with 49% in the earlier study. Negative and inconclusive outcomes remained relatively infrequent.
    CONCLUSIONS: Despite growth in publication volume and a shift toward empirical study designs, CAM journals continue to exhibit a pronounced predominance of positive outcome reporting. These findings suggest that longstanding concerns regarding publication bias in CAM publishing have not diminished over time and appear to have intensified, with selective publication and related reporting and dissemination practices plausibly contributing to the observed patterns. This has important implications for research integrity and evidence-based decision-making in medical practice.
    Keywords:  Alternative medicine; Complementary medicine; Integrative medicine; Journal analysis; Positive outcomes; Publication bias
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-026-00221-2
  16. PLoS One. 2026 ;21(6): e0348507
    The UN SDGs as a global 'directive shift' and the institutionalization of sustainability research.
    Alesia A Zuccala, Anna Leoncini, Andrea Bonaccorsi.
      This paper examines how the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shape the institutionalization of sustainability research within scholarly publishing. We argue that the SDGs operate as a globally endorsed form of external research agenda-setting, constituting a "directive shift" in science. Focusing on SDG 04 (Quality Education), SDG 08 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 13 (Climate Action), we analyse changes in Scopus-indexed journals from 1990 to 2024. Using large-scale bibliometric data, we classify (n = 30,604) journals by activity level, age (newborn, young, mature, established), disciplinarity, publishing model, and long-term survival across publication thresholds (k = 1, 3, 5, 10). Results reveal a sustained increase in journal participation related to SDG-related publishing, with pronounced entry surges around major international agreements in 2005 and 2015. Participation is driven primarily by young and mature journals, while established journals contribute a comparatively small share of new entrants. Further analysis of established titles reveals that top-ranked (Q1) core journals are more prominent in SDG 13 than in SDG 04 and SDG 08, suggesting uneven integration across disciplinary hierarchies. Multidisciplinary and open-access journals dominate entry patterns, and survival rates increase at higher publication thresholds, indicating sustained engagement over time. Overall, these structural dynamics suggest that the SDGs operate as a directive shift, contributing to the progressive consolidation of sustainability research within the journal system.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0348507
  17. Account Res. 2026 Jun 02. 2681050
    Improving acknowledgments sections to better credit research contributors.
    Alex O Holcombe, Rasmus Pedersen, Malgorzata Lagisz, Pietro Pollo, Marton Kovacs, Mohammad Hosseini.
      Formal recognition of research contributions is critical for career advancement and the allocation of research funding. However, some contributions are mentioned only in the acknowledgments section, which are not indexed by scholarly databases, resulting in little recognition for those involved. We contextualize this shortfall in terms of contributorship, the movement to recognize specific research contributions rather than rely solely on authorship. Broadening the range of recognized individuals is currently advanced largely through reducing authorship restrictions and unbundling manuscripts into smaller elements, such as datasets and protocols, that receive their own attributions. Here we focus on a complementary path, enhancing the contents and metadata of acknowledgments sections. Capitalizing on existing infrastructure and standards, we propose: 1) when acknowledging individuals, authors include ORCIDs (subject to the acknowledgees' approval) and provide CRediT information where applicable; 2) publishers solicit identities of acknowledgees in a similar way to how they do so for authors in their submission portals; and 3) publishers include metadata of acknowledgees in JATS-XML files. Implementing these steps should encourage scholarly databases to index non-author contributors. The ensuing increase in visibility for research contributors, such as technicians and library professionals, should result in greater recognition of non-author roles.
    Keywords:  Authorship; accountability; contributorship; metadata; persistent identifiers
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2026.2681050
  18. PLoS One. 2026 ;21(6): e0349342
    Iran's great scientific divergence: The Middle-Income trap and the Political Economy of Science Policy.
    Ehsan Roohi.
      This study examines how the 1979 Iranian Revolution altered Iran's long-term scientific development using publication and citation data for 1960-2024. Combining longitudinal scientometric analysis with counterfactual modeling, we identify a major structural break in Iran's research trajectory after 1979. Iran experienced a substantial post-2000 recovery in publication volume, but this recovery was accompanied by a persistent quality gap, with Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and top-cited-paper shares remaining below those of several comparator systems. To assess the long-run opportunity cost of the disruption, we use two complementary counterfactual strategies: a comparison-based Synthetic Control Method (SCM) and a set of developmental-growth proxy scenarios. Across specifications, the qualitative conclusion is stable: the post-1979 interruption is associated with a durable loss of scientific compounding capacity. At the same time, the quantitative magnitude of the cumulative shortfall is sensitive to counterfactual specification, indicating that no single benchmark should be treated as a definitive historical forecast. We therefore interpret the SCM results as comparison-based benchmarks and the developmental-growth proxies as illustrative upper- and mid-range scenarios rather than literal one-to-one counterfactuals. We interpret these findings through the lens of the Middle-Income Trap (MIT) and the political economy of the Rentier State. We argue that Iran's post-revolutionary science policy contributed to a quantity-quality paradox in which expansion in scientific output was not matched by comparable gains in global scientific influence, while also recognizing that observed citation-impact measures are shaped by international collaboration constraints and bibliometric coverage limitations. The findings highlight the long-run developmental cost of political disruption while emphasizing that sustained scientific catch-up depends not only on output growth, but also on institutional continuity, international integration, and incentive structures that reward impact rather than volume alone.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0349342
  19. J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod. 2026 Jun 01. pii: S2468-7847(26)00128-5. [Epub ahead of print]55(7): 103228
    Unmasking manels: a gender disparity exposé in major gynecologic surgery congresses in France and Europe.
    Estelle Tromelin, Marion Pinsard, Léa Roux, Vincent Lavoué, Jean Levêque, Ludivine Dion, Rémi Beranger, Maela Le Lous, Krystel Nyangoh Timoh.
       INTRODUCTION: The persistent underrepresentation of women in academic forums is concerning. Their equitable representation in gynecology conferences is not only emblematic of progress but pivotal for advancement of the field. We studied the prevalence of "manels" (all-male panels) within gynecologic surgery congresses spanning France and Europe.
    METHODS: We examined the scientific programs from five leading gynecologic surgery conferences held in France and Europe during 2020-2021. Comprehensive data, including faculty details, was collected. Primary outcomes were: (1) mean male faculty percentage across all sessions, and (2) overarching manel presence. Results were stratified by specific congresses and subspecialties, with further comparative analyses between manels vs. multigender sessions and male vs. female faculty attributes.
    RESULTS: Of 144 sessions, 45 (31.3%) were identified as manels. Male faculty averaged 78.7% across all sessions. Consistent male predominance was observed across all congresses and subspecialties. Interestingly, sessions with a gender mix were not only lengthier but also featured a greater number of chairs/moderators and speakers compared to manels (p < 0.001). Among the 882 faculty members, male faculty exhibited more practice years, a higher publication count, superior H-index (p < 0.001), and predominant professor presence compared to their female counterparts. Conversely, female faculty demonstrated a propensity towards non-gynecology specializations (p < 0.001). After adjusting for years of experience, female faculty remained less likely to hold university positions and had lower publication counts and H-index than male faculty (all p < 0.001).
    CONCLUSION: Our investigation highlights manel presence in gynecologic surgery congresses across France and Europe. Women underrepresentation in academic congregations underscores the need for gynecological societies to promote gender equality. As the medical domain becomes more gender-diverse, it is paramount for professional platforms to promote this shift towards inclusivity.
    Keywords:  Academic forums; Gender disparity; Gender equality; Male predominance; Manels
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogoh.2026.103228
  20. Int J Educ Integr. 2026 ;22(1): 13
    Who gets in, who gets cited, who gets promoted: informal networks in Kazakhstani academia.
    Elena Denisova-Schmidt, Tatyana Kim, Aliya Kuzhabekova.
      This paper explores the ambivalent role of informal networks in shaping academic careers as well as academic and research integrity in Kazakhstan. Drawing on 23 in-depth interviews with senior university leaders, the study examines how informal networks both facilitate scholarly work and undermine merit-based governance. Building on Ledeneva's typology of informal networks, the paper identifies four coexisting forms-solidarity, domination, redistribution, and market-oriented networks-and analyzes how each shapes hiring, promotion, authorship, funding allocation, and research evaluation. Although these networks often compensate for institutional gaps arising from rapid internationalization and metric-driven reforms, they also legitimize practices such as favoritism, guest authorship, citation manipulation, and informal interference in evaluation processes. The findings challenge individualistic understandings of academic misconduct by showing that questionable practices are embedded in relational obligations, hierarchical dependencies, and structural incentives. The paper concludes by discussing implications for academic integrity policies and argues for context-sensitive approaches that recognize the persistence and ambivalence of informal networks rather than seeking to eliminate them.
    Keywords:  Academic integrity; Corruption; Higher education; Informality; Kazakhstan; Research integrity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-026-00218-w
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