Impact of Nephrology publications from Saudi Arabia in the last decade

OBJECTIVE: To study the present situation with regards to the research output in Nephrology from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in terms of numbers, type, institution and fields covered.

METHODS: An extensive Medline search of Nephrologists working in KSA, as well research output from KSA was undertaken; in addition, all Nephrologists were contacted. All papers appearing in the Saudi Medical Journal, Annals of Saudi Medicine and The Saudi Journal for Kidney Diseases and Transplantation were screened for the years 1992-2001.

RESULTS: An average of 45 papers per year appeared over the last 10 years with no major changes over the years. Half were in the indexed Journals. Whereas, 61% were original articles, the majority of the papers (78.2%) were retrospective in nature and 89.9% were clinical. The majority were concerned with transplantation (34.1%) and hemodialysis (24.4%). It is of interest to note that KSA leads other Arab countries in the number of publications in Nephrology and it has a highest total percentage of medical publications compared to other Arab, and Asian countries as well as the United Kingdom, Canada and United States of America.

CONCLUSION: Although KSA is leading the Arab countries in renal research, much improvement is still required especially in basic research.