bims-evares Biomed News
on Evaluation of research
Issue of 2026–01–11
nine papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. Bibliometric mapping of the contribution of African optometry researchers to ophthalmic literature.
  2. Arts and Humanities Citation Index for Research Evaluation in the Field of Religion: Unusual Findings and Suggestions.
  3. National-, institutional-, and individual-level determinants of psychiatric research excellence: Analysis of Stanford-Elsevier lists of the top 2 % scholars worldwide (2017-2023).
  4. A concise, practice-oriented guide to bibliometric analysis for intensive and critical care nursing researchers.
  5. Geographic disparities in prestigious neuroscience research.
  6. Should we be worried? Retractions in complementary and alternative medicine journals.
  7. The Transformative Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Latin American Research.
  8. A Meta-Synthesis of Review Studies on Wood-Polymer Composites: Mapping the Current Research Landscape.
  9. Plagiarism - How to Use and Read it.
  1. Clin Exp Optom. 2026 Jan 06. 1-13
    Bibliometric mapping of the contribution of African optometry researchers to ophthalmic literature.
    Paul Owusu, Pious Tawiah Amoako, Randy Asiamah, Gideon Owusu, Joseph Mannyeya Sa-Ambo, Patrick Evans Agyiri, Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi, Samuel Kyei.
       CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The theoretical basis and evidence-based clinical practice of optometry and vision science are expressed primarily in refereed journals of academic and professional repute. These journals serve as the reference and access point for advances and innovations in the field of optometry.
    BACKGROUND: Africa has the highest global burden of visual impairment, yet the contribution of African optometry researchers to ophthalmic research has not been assessed. This study examines the scholarly output and publication outlets of the leading African optometry academics to evaluate their contribution to ophthalmic literature.
    METHODS: A bibliometric analysis was undertaken using Scopus-indexed publications authored by the leading African optometry researchers. The Scopus records for each of the fifty scholars were extracted and deduplicated, yielding metadata on document types, language, citation counts, journal titles, and metrics (h-index, Impact Factor, Cite Score). The Bibliometrix package in R was used to analyse the research output and publication trends. The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess the associations between African contributions and global journal metrics.
    RESULTS: African optometry researchers published 1319 papers across 341 journals, accumulating 86,218 citations with an overall h-index of 72. Original research articles comprised 84.4%. Though open access articles had a higher volume (58.7%), subscription-based articles (41.3%) showed a higher citation impact than open access articles (mean rank:641.18 vs 686.73; U = 225,481.50, p = 0.032). Publications were concentrated in 27 core journals. No significant correlations were found between African-authored article counts and Impact Factor (rs = -0.069, p = 0.738) or between African h-index and journal quartile (χ2 (2) = 4.58, p = 0.101).
    CONCLUSIONS: African optometry researchers have demonstrated increasing productivity and contribution to ophthalmic research. However, relevance and accessibility drive journal selection more than impact metrics alone, highlighting the need to bridge the gap between research visibility and global recognition.
    Keywords:  African optometry; bibliometrics; citations; impact factor; ophthalmic research
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2025.2601299
  2. J Relig Health. 2026 Jan 04.
    Arts and Humanities Citation Index for Research Evaluation in the Field of Religion: Unusual Findings and Suggestions.
    Ruifeng Zhang, Weishu Liu.
      The Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) is widely used for research evaluation, including in the field of Religion. However, apart from merely indexing research output published in journals, it is still unclear what other flaws exist when using this authoritative database to evaluate religion-related studies. Through a comprehensive analysis of the A&HCI data from a full 50-year period and the most recent 10-year period, we uncover a series of unusual findings in the field of Religion, including stagnation in the number of indexed records, absence of the author's address information, anomalies of the main contributing countries/regions, and over-concentration of preferred journals. We discuss the challenges posed by these unusual findings to the evaluation of religion-related studies using the A&HCI database. This study concludes with suggestions to the relevant stakeholders to address these issues.
    Keywords:  Arts & Humanities Citation Index; Bibliometric analysis; Religion; Religious studies; Research evaluation; Web of Science Core Collection
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-025-02546-6
  3. Asian J Psychiatr. 2026 Jan 02. pii: S1876-2018(25)00469-1. [Epub ahead of print]116 104826
    National-, institutional-, and individual-level determinants of psychiatric research excellence: Analysis of Stanford-Elsevier lists of the top 2 % scholars worldwide (2017-2023).
    Abanoub Riad, Muhammad Alkasaby, Nisarat Changchroenkul, Michal Koščík.
       BACKGROUND: Research excellence is increasingly used as a benchmark for academic evaluation in medical sciences, including psychiatry. However, bibliometric analyses often prioritize productivity over quality. This study examined national, institutional, and individual determinants of psychiatric research excellence using a multi-level ecological framework.
    METHODS: We analyzed the Stanford-Elsevier Lists of the top 2 % scholars (2017-2023), incorporating 51 independent variables. These included: (a) national determinants grouped into five domains (mental healthcare, gender equity, socioeconomic development, budgetary policies, and disease burden), (b) institutional factors derived from global and discipline-specific rankings, and (c) individual factors of gender and academic age. The primary outcome was the number of excellent psychiatric scholars (EPS), with secondary indicators including citation counts, modified H-index, composite score, and self-citation share.
    RESULTS: Psychiatric research excellence was concentrated in high-income, English-speaking countries, with significant institutional elitism. A small number of institutions hosted a disproportionate share of EPS. Gender disparities persisted, with female representation negatively associated with national gender gaps in employment and education, but positively linked to government spending on education. Academic age positively correlated with citation-based performance metrics. Multivariable models confirmed the explanatory roles of gender, academic age, official language, gender equity, and human development.
    CONCLUSION: Psychiatric research excellence reflects systemic advantages related to income, language, institutional prestige, and gender equity. Equitable funding, support for emerging research environments, and expanded international collaboration are essential to fostering broader participation in high-impact psychiatric research.
    Keywords:  Academia; Bibliometrics; Gender Equity; Global Health; Macroeconomic Factors; Mental Disorders; Mental Health Services; Psychiatry; Research Personnel
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2025.104826
  4. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2026 Jan 05. pii: S0964-3397(25)00386-6. [Epub ahead of print]93 104324
    A concise, practice-oriented guide to bibliometric analysis for intensive and critical care nursing researchers.
    Sameh Eltaybani.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2025.104324
  5. Rev Neurosci. 2026 Jan 08.
    Geographic disparities in prestigious neuroscience research.
    Marziah Hakim, Peytn Stokes-Marshall, Kate Beecher, Joshua Wang.
      The researchers who conduct, author and review neuroscience studies inherently shape both the findings and the segments of society that ultimately benefit from the research. Generally, Western high-income nations dominate the production and dissemination of the majority of prestigious scientific research. However, the extent of geographic disparities across the neuroscience research pipeline, including at the level of editors, peer reviewers, authors, and research participants, have not been examined. This article synthesizes meta-research studies examining geographic disparities in neuroscience research, supplemented by an analysis of the properties of 2,013 articles published in the top five most prestigious neuroscience journals between 2014 and 2023. Our review demonstrates that editorial boards and authorship of neuroscience research remains concentrated in high-income Western nations, with some evidence to suggest that authors affiliated with non-high-income nations are increasingly represented. There is currently no direct evidence to suggest that authors affiliated with non-high-income countries experience disparities in peer review delays or public engagement with their research. However, our analysis shows that these authors' works receive fewer citations than their high-income nation-affiliated colleagues'. Further, while very few non-high-income nation-affiliated researchers first-author prestigious neuroscience publications, a relatively greater proportion of these prestigious publications use data from research participants in non-high-income nations. We conclude the review by summarizing current initiatives aimed at reducing geographic disparities in neuroscience research.
    Keywords:  authorship; equity; geographic disparities; neuroethics; neuroscience; publishing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1515/revneuro-2025-0091
  6. Explore (NY). 2025 Dec 31. pii: S1550-8307(25)00201-0. [Epub ahead of print]22(2): 103310
    Should we be worried? Retractions in complementary and alternative medicine journals.
    Jenny M Wilkinson.
       OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore the nature of retraction notices associated with complementary and alternative medicine focused journals.
    METHOD: Data related to retractions in complementary and alternative medicine journals were extracted from the Retraction Watch Database for the period 2000-2025.
    RESULTS: The analysis found that there were 902 notices associated with 42 complementary and alternative medicine journals. Overall, the percentage of retractions relative to all papers published in the named journals is low (<1%) however a single journal was responsible for 84% of retractions. The majority of these retractions occurred in 2023 as the result of a wider publisher investigation into paper mills and sham peer-review. Similar to other studies, retraction was rarely due to a single cause but reflected a mix of data integrity concerns, peer-review issues, evidence of plagiarism and other issues. The average time between original publication and retraction was 19 months (mode 10 months) with 98% of publications having multiple authors. The main country of origin of authors of retracted works were China, India and South Korea.
    DISCUSSION: Published peer-reviewed literature is used in a range of ways, as the foundation for future studies, incorporated in systematic reviews, clinical decision-making and in training of practitioners and clinicians. While this study has demonstrated that retractions in the complementary and alternative medicine literature is generally at a lower level, any evidence of publication integrity breach is a concern and should be cause for ongoing monitoring.
    Keywords:  Complementary and alternative medicine; Publication retractions; Research integrity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2025.103310
  7. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2026 Jan 05.
    The Transformative Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Latin American Research.
    Ricardo Becker, Michelle Ghert.
      ➢ Substantial disparities exist between Latin America and high-income countries in research capacity, and artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool to accelerate scientific development and reduce this gap.➢ Orthopaedic research in Latin America faces persistent barriers, including limited funding, lack of trained investigators, and insufficient data infrastructure, that restrict innovation and international collaboration.➢ By automating complex and time-consuming tasks, AI can lower research costs, improve efficiency, and enhance project quality across all stages, from data analysis to manuscript preparation.➢ The growing adoption of AI in the region is already strengthening academic productivity, fostering collaboration, and supporting Latin America's transition to a more equitable and innovative research environment.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.25.01431
  8. Polymers (Basel). 2025 Dec 25. pii: 63. [Epub ahead of print]18(1):
    A Meta-Synthesis of Review Studies on Wood-Polymer Composites: Mapping the Current Research Landscape.
    Marius Nicolae Baba, Mirela Camelia Baba.
      Wood-polymer composites (WPCs) consistently garner considerable attention owing to their material versatility and sustainability, resulting in numerous review studies across diverse disciplines. Nonetheless, since a comprehensive synthesis that consolidates these disparate reviews is lacking, this study performs a meta-synthesis of review articles focused on WPCs employing a science-mapping approach enhanced by CiteSpace software. A systematic search of the Web of Science Core Collection (last updated in June 2025) was conducted, yielding 51 review-type articles selected using PRISMA screening guidelines. Network-based co-citation, clustering, and keyword analyses reveal that recent WPC research centers on three interconnected areas: (i) reinforcement and interfacial engineering, (ii) processing-structure-property relationships, and (iii) sustainability-focused design involving recycling, fire safety, thermal pretreatment, and PCM-based thermal management. Sixteen author/reference clusters and nine keyword clusters highlight well-defined knowledge communities on durability and fire safety, nano- and bio-based reinforcements, recycled and bioplastic matrices, and advanced manufacturing techniques such as co-extrusion, flat-pressing, 3D printing, and wood-polymer impregnation. Timeline and burst analyses show that mechanical performance remains the primary focus, while emerging areas include recycled/waste-derived polymers, cellulose micro- and nanofibers, moisture-resistant hybrids, and wood-based additive manufacturing for construction applications.
    Keywords:  CiteSpace; bibliometric visualization; citation burst detection; cluster analysis; co-citation network; knowledge domain evolution; natural language processing; research landscape mapping; wood–polymer composites (WPCs)
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010063
  9. J Orthop Case Rep. 2025 Dec;15(12): 4-8
    Plagiarism - How to Use and Read it.
    Arvind Janardhan Vatkar, Sachin Kale, Ashok Shyam, Sumedha Shinde.
      Academic integrity is crucial in orthopedic surgery research, as patient care relies on the legitimacy and trustworthiness of published research. Plagiarism, or the unauthorized use of intellectual property without proper attribution, jeopardizes musculoskeletal medicine advancement and public trust. The advent of digital publishing platforms, combined with rising priority for academic production, has resulted in both purposeful and inadvertent transgressions of academic integrity norms. Modern plagiarism detection software is crucial for maintaining publication standards, but many researchers lack a comprehensive understanding of effective detection, analysis, and remediation techniques. Effective plagiarism prevention has a direct influence on patient safety, encourages innovation, and preserves the reputation of orthopedic literature in the global medical community.
    Keywords:  academic; journals; plagiarism; similarity score
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.13107/jocr.2025.v15.i12.6434
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