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Research ArticleOriginal Article
Open Access

Mapping the landscape of medical research in the Arab world countries

A comprehensive bibliometric analysis

Shadan Almuhaidib, Rawan Alqahtani, Haifa F. Alotaibi, Asma Saeed, Sahar Alnasrallah, Fayez Alshamsi, Saleh A. Alqahtani and Waleed Alhazzani
Saudi Medical Journal April 2024, 45 (4) 387-396; DOI: https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2024.45.4.20230968
Shadan Almuhaidib
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Rawan Alqahtani
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Haifa F. Alotaibi
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Asma Saeed
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Sahar Alnasrallah
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Fayez Alshamsi
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Saleh A. Alqahtani
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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Waleed Alhazzani
From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
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  • Figure 1
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    Figure 1

    - The total number of medical research publications in: A) all Arab countries combined versus B) the world per year between 2017-2022. Data for 2023 is not displayed; it only represents the first quarter of the year. The number of publications in the first quarter of 2023 in Arab countries = 4,245 vs. all world countries = 124,521.

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    Figure 2

    - The total number of medical research publications in Arab world countries and their impact relative to the world. Countries ranked from left to right in ascending order by their impact relative to the world. Impact relative to the global average is equal to the country’s citation impact divided by the world citation impact baseline (World citation impact = 12.02). This metric provides insight into relative research performance. If the value is >1, it suggests that the publications are performing better than the global average. Conversely, if the value is <1, the publications are performing lower than the global average.

Tables

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    Table 1

    - Total medical research production by all Arab countries from January 2017 to March 2023 (countries ranked in descending order by publications per one million people [world ranking is out of 159 countries; population size >1,000,000 people]).

    Arab world country rankingWorld country rankingCountriesPublications per one million*Publications (n)†Publications’ World share (%)‡Publications’ Arab world share (%)§Population (n)§Times cited (n)Citation impact**
    126Qatar2,8447,6460.1716.292,688,235153,79320.11
    236Lebanon1,2957,2400.1625.965,592,631152,34521.04
    337Saudi Arabia1,23244,2880.99336.4635,950,396565,16512.76
    440United Arab Emirates1,0579,9000.2228.159,365,145163,70416.54
    545Bahrain7631,1170.0250.921,463,26537,02133.14
    648Kuwait6732,8600.0642.354,250,11459,77020.9
    749Jordan6357,0790.1595.8311,148,278114,66716.2
    855Tunisia5416,6380.1495.4612,262,94687,07213.12
    956Oman5362,4250.0542.004,520,47141,44817.09
    1060Egypt37340,7900.91433.58109,262,178484,40011.88
    1171Palestine2641,3010.0291.074,922,74937,83129.08
    12§§96§§Morocco993,6790.0823.0337,076,58461,40116.69
    12§§96§§Libya996690.0150.556,735,27716,10524.07§§
    1499Iraq954,1570.0933.4243,533,59274,37817.89
    15117Algeria582,5760.0582.1244,177,96965,03725.25
    16128Sudan421,9210.0431.5845,657,20218,8659.82
    17136Syria347170.0160.5921,324,3677,64610.66§§
    18§§139§§Yemen301,0030.0220.8332,981,64129,43429.35
    18§§139§§Djibouti30330.0010.031,105,5572788.42§§
    20144Mauritania21960.0020.084,614,9749369.75§§
    21154Somalia101760.0040.1417,065,5817894.48§§
    --Arab World††266121,4852.72-456,520,7771,455,87011.98
    --World5664,462,205‡‡--7,888,408,686††53,647,52412.02
    • ↵* Publications per one million is publications number divided by country’s population multiplied by 1,000,000.

    • ↵† Source: Essential Science Indicator. Includes Web of Science content indexed from January 2017 to March 2023.

    • ↵‡ Publications’ world share is country’s publications number divided by total publications by all countries across the world multiplied by 100.

    • ↵§ The Arab world share is country’s publications number divided by total publications by the Arab world in aggregate multiplied by 100.

    • ↵§ Source: World Bank Databank (most recent year 2021).

    • ↵** Citation impact is times cited divided by publications number from the same country.

    • ↵§§ Equal ranking was assigned due to having identical number of publications per one million people.

    • ↵§§ The total number of publications from these countries are less than 1,000; thus, citation impact might not be accurate.

    • ↵†† Comoros is one of the 22 Arab world countries; however, its population size is less than one million people, hence, it was removed from this table. Publications per one million = 33; publications number = 27; publications world share = 0.0006%; publications Arab world share = 0.02%; population size = 821,625; times cited = 767; and citation impact = 28.41.

    • ↵‡‡ Including all publications count from all countries worldwide (total = 207 countries); Source: Essential Science Indicator. Includes Web of Science content indexed from January 2017 to March 2023.

    • ↵†† Source of the total world population size: World Bank Databank (most recent year 2021).

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    Table 2

    - Top 20 target medical research journals for researchers in Arab countries have published their work (ranked in descending order by number of publications in the journal with at least one author affiliated with one of the Arab countries, out of a total of 4261 journals).

    RanksJournal namesPublication sourcesPublications (n)Times cited (n)JIF quartileJournal IF*5 year IFCitation impact†
    1Saudi Journal of Biological SciencesSaudi Arabia1,85216,266Q24.054.258.78
    2PLOS OneUnited States of America1,82818,911Q23.754.0710.35
    3Scientific ReportsEngland1,81223,790Q25.005.5213.13
    4International Journal of Biological MacromoleculesNetherlands1,38135,078Q18.037.6325.40
    5BioMed Research InternationalUnited States of America8276,321Q33.253.777.64
    6Saudi Medical JournalSaudi Arabia7723,650Q41.422.124.73
    7Biomedicine & PharmacotherapyFrance74614,528Q17.426.5819.47
    8Bioorganic ChemistryUnited States of America74013,341Q15.315.3218.03
    9Saudi Pharmaceutical JournalSaudi Arabia7136,897Q24.565.099.67
    10Frontiers in MicrobiologySwitzerland60910,194Q16.066.8416.74
    11PharmaceuticsSwitzerland6085,577Q16.537.239.17
    12HealthcareSwitzerland5651,600Q23.163.462.83
    13Antibiotics-BaselSwitzerland5383,755Q15.225.406.98
    14Journal of Infection and Public HealthEngland5217,300Q17.546.2114.01
    15Journal of Drug Delivery Science and TechnologyFrance5194,665Q25.064.628.99
    16Frontiers in PharmacologySwitzerland5197,737Q15.996.4614.91
    17Life SciencesEngland4936,791Q16.786.0413.77
    18PharmaceuticalsSwitzerland4802,376Q15.225.714.95
    19Computational Intelligence and NeuroscienceUnited States of America4731,930Q23.123.884.08
    20Natural Product ResearchEngland4673,129Q32.492.516.70

    JIF: journal impact factor, IF: impact factor, Q: quartile

    • ↵* Journal impact factor source: Journal Citation Reports (2021).

    • ↵† Citation impact is times cited divided by publications number from the same journal.

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    Table 3

    - Top 10 target Arab medical research journals for researchers in Arab countries (ranked in descending order by number of publications, out of a total of 43 journals).

    RankJournal namesPublication sourcesTotal publications (n)*Publications from Arab countries (n)% Of publications from Arab countries†Times cited (n)JIF quartileJournal IF‡5 year IFCitation impact§
    1Saudi Journal of Biological SciencesSaudi Arabia2,9001,85263.8626,068Q24.054.258.99
    2Current Pharmaceutical DesignUnited Arab Emirates2,6712378.8727,484Q33.313.5510.29
    3Current Medicinal ChemistryUnited Arab Emirates2,066894.3126,343Q24.745.0512.75
    4Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal ChemistryUnited Arab Emirates1,32017913.569,090Q32.472.846.89
    5Saudi Pharmaceutical JournalSaudi Arabia1,04771368.1012,069Q24.565.0911.53
    6Saudi Medical JournalSaudi Arabia98877278.144,515Q41.422.124.57
    7Mini-Reviews in Medicinal ChemistryUnited Arab Emirates854819.488,429Q23.744.069.87
    8Current Pharmaceutical BiotechnologyUnited Arab Emirates8469511.235,812Q32.832.786.87
    9Current Drug TargetsUnited Arab Emirates837404.788,746Q32.943.6010.45
    10Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders - Drug TargetsUnited Arab Emirates79312916.274,108Q42.392.475.18

    Note: Arab countries that have at least one medical research journal: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Iraq, Morocco, Kuwait, Algeria, Bahrain, and Libya; Arab countries that do not have any medical research journals indexed in Web of Science: Sudan, Oman, Palestine, Syria, Djibouti, Comoros, Yemen, Mauritania, and Somalia.

    JIF: journal impact factor, Q: quartile, IF: impact factor

    • ↵* Publications from all world countries (including Arab countries).

    • ↵† The number of publications from Arab world researchers divided by the total number of publications from the same journal.

    • ↵‡ Journal impact factor source: Journal Citation Reports (2021).

    • ↵§ Citation impact is times cited divided by publications number from the same journal.

    • View popup
    Table 4

    - Proportion of national contribution and citation times for the most productive institutions in Arab countries from January 2017 to March 2023 (ranked descending by times cited).

    RankInstitution names*Organization typesCountriesTimes citedPublications per institutionPublication per country% National contribution†Citation impact‡H-index
    1King Saud UniversityAcademicSaudi Arabia169,43311,97344,28827.0314.15119
    2Cairo UniversityAcademicEgypt139,0949,28940,79022.7714.97106
    3King Abdulaziz UniversityAcademicSaudi Arabia136,9347,47944,28816.8918.31117
    4American University of BeirutAcademicLebanon104,9203,6817,24050.8428.5099
    5Mansoura UniversityAcademicEgypt83,8754,44840,79010.9018.8685
    6Ain Shams UniversityAcademicEgypt83,6444,74340,79011.6317.6492
    7Qatar FoundationNonprofitQatar70,9012,8397,64637.1324.9795
    8Alexandria UniversityAcademicEgypt56,2584,19240,79010.2813.4269
    9King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health SciencesAcademicSaudi Arabia56,2113,26844,2887.3817.2087
    10Hamad Medical CorporationHealthQatar45,8822,3477,64630.7019.5577
    • ↵* Most productive institutions in the Arab world were ranked based on the total number of publications for the period between January 2017 and March 2023 and limited to the top 20.

    • ↵† Number of publications per institution divided by the total number of publications from the same country.

    • ↵‡ Citation impact is times cited divided by publications number from the same institution.

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Mapping the landscape of medical research in the Arab world countries
Shadan Almuhaidib, Rawan Alqahtani, Haifa F. Alotaibi, Asma Saeed, Sahar Alnasrallah, Fayez Alshamsi, Saleh A. Alqahtani, Waleed Alhazzani
Saudi Medical Journal Apr 2024, 45 (4) 387-396; DOI: 10.15537/smj.2024.45.4.20230968

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Mapping the landscape of medical research in the Arab world countries
Shadan Almuhaidib, Rawan Alqahtani, Haifa F. Alotaibi, Asma Saeed, Sahar Alnasrallah, Fayez Alshamsi, Saleh A. Alqahtani, Waleed Alhazzani
Saudi Medical Journal Apr 2024, 45 (4) 387-396; DOI: 10.15537/smj.2024.45.4.20230968
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