Worldwide research productivity in nuclear medicine literature

Abstract

Summary Aim: This study aimed to assess the quantity and quality of papers published in subspecialty nuclear medicine journals and provide an overview of worldwide research activity carried out in the field of nuclear medicine. Methods: Papers published in subspecialty nuclear medicine journals between 2008 and 2017 were retrieved from the Web of Science. The number of papers and citations were used to evaluate the quantity and quality of the articles. The correlation between the research productivity of different countries and their population size and gross domestic product (GDP) were analyzed. Results: There were 12,861 articles published in these journals between 2008 and 2017. A rapidly increasing trend was observed in the number of articles published per year (p < 0.001). The United States published the largest proportion of papers (23.22 %) followed by Germany (9.94 %), Japan (9.46 %), Italy (6.53 %), and China (6.36 %). The United States had the highest number of total citations. The number of articles from different countries had a significant correlation with their population size and GDP (p < 0.01). Switzerland had the highest mean citations (23.66) followed by the Netherlands (23.54), and Germany (22.77). However, the Netherlands was first (42.43) followed by Denmark (32.89) and Switzerland (31.79) when adjustments for population size were made. When adjustments for GDP were made, the Netherlands was again the leader (82.91) followed by Denmark (69.49) and Greece (61.77). Conclusions: There has been a significant increase in nuclear medicine research over the last decade. The United States is the leader of worldwide research productivity. However, when population and GDP are taken into consideration, certain smaller countries in Europe exhibit performed better.