Sa ed H Zyoud 1,2,3, Samah W Al-Jabi 2, Waleed M Sweileh 4 and Rahmat Awang 3

Transcription

1 523424SMO / SAGE Open MedicineZyoud et l. reserch-rticle2014 Originl Article SAGE Open Medicine Assessing the scientific reserch productivity of leding toxicology journl: A cse study of Humn & Experimentl Toxicology from 2003 to 2012 SAGE Open Medicine 2: The Author(s) 2014 Reprints nd permissions: sgepub.co.uk/journlspermissions.nv DOI: / smo.sgepub.com S ed H Zyoud 1,2,3, Smh W Al-Jbi 2, Wleed M Sweileh 4 nd Rhmt Awng 3 Abstrct Bckground: Bibliometric studies re incresingly being used for reserch ssessments. Bibliometric indictors involve the ppliction of sttisticl methods to scientific publictions to obtin the bibliogrphics for ech journl. The min objective of this study ws to conduct bibliometric evlution of Humn & Experimentl Toxicology retrieved from the Scopus dtbse. Methods: This study obtined dt from Scopus published from 1 Jnury 2003 till 31 December The keywords entered in Scopus to ccomplish the objective of this study were Humn, Experimentl nd Toxicology s Source Title. Reserch productivity ws evluted bsed on methodology developed nd used in other bibliometric studies by nlysing () totl nd trends in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology contributions in reserch between 2003 nd 2012; (b) Humn & Experimentl Toxicology uthorship ptterns nd productivity; (c) collbortion ptterns; nd (d) the cittions received by the publictions. Results: There were 1229 reserch rticles published in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology. Of the rticles included, 947 (77.1%) were originl rticles nd 104 (8.5%) were review rticles. The Hirsch-index of the retrieved documents ws 35. The lrgest number of publictions in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology ws from the United Sttes (19.6%), followed by Indi (12.8%) nd Turkey (10.9%). The totl number of cittions ws 9119, with medin (interqurtile rnge) of 3 (1 9) in 6797 documents. The highest medin (interqurtile rnge) number of cittions ws 8 ( ) for Frnce, followed by 7.5 (2 22.5) for Irn nd 6 (3 13.5) for the United Kingdom. The country most often citing rticles tht were published in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology ws the United Sttes, which mde cittions in 1508 documents, followed by Indi with cittions in 792 documents. Conclusion: The documents in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology focus principlly on originl dt, with very few review rticles. Review rticles tend to hve higher cittion rtes thn originl rticles, nd hence, the editors nd uthors of Humn & Experimentl Toxicology might usefully promote the submission of reviews in the future to improve the impct of the journl. Keywords Bibliometric, humn nd experimentl toxicology, Scopus, cittions Dte received: 16 December 2013; ccepted: 18 Jnury 2014 Bckground Humn & Experimentl Toxicology (HET) is fully peerreviewed interntionl journl tht publishes preclinicl nd clinicl phrmcology nd toxicology originl reserch nd review rticles on experimentl nd clinicl studies of functionl, biochemicl, nd structurl disorders. 1 It ws estblished in 1981 s Humn Toxicology nd obtined its current 1 Poison Control nd Drug Informtion Center (PCDIC), College of Medicine nd Helth Sciences, An-Njh Ntionl University, Nblus, Plestine 2 Deprtment of Clinicl nd Community Phrmcy, College of Medicine nd Helth Sciences, An-Njh Ntionl University, Nblus, Plestine 3 WHO Collborting Centre for Drug Informtion, Ntionl Poison Centre, Universiti Sins Mlysi (USM), Penng, Mlysi 4 Deprtment of Phrmcology nd Toxicology, College of Medicine nd Helth Sciences, An-Njh Ntionl University, Nblus, Plestine Corresponding uthor: S ed H Zyoud, Poison Control nd Drug Informtion Center (PCDIC), College of Medicine nd Helth Sciences, An-Njh Ntionl University, Nblus 44839, Plestine. Emil: sedzyoud@yhoo.com; sedzyoud@njh.edu

2 2 SAGE Open Medicine nme in It is published by SAGE Publictions nd the Editor-in-Chief is Ki Svolinen. HET is bstrcted nd indexed in Science Cittion Index nd Scopus. It is serchble from PubMed but not from PubMed Centrl. 1 Toxicology hs gretly chnged its fields of knowledge nd ppliction in reltion to scientific evolution nd the requirements of society. Toxicologists prticipte in fundmentl nd pplied reserch into the toxic effects of chemicls, their mechnisms of ction, toxicodynmics, toxicokinetics, nd eduction in toxicology. 2 Toxicology, s multidisciplinry field, offers creer opportunities for grdutes with different res of interest including phrmcology nd phrmceutics, environmentl science, griculturl nd biologicl sciences, medicine, biochemistry, genetics nd moleculr biology, neuroscience, chemistry, socil sciences nd epidemiology, plnetry sciences, immunology, nd veterinry. 2 5 Bibliometric nlysis is useful tool to obtin informtion bout the current stte of scientific production in prticulr res nd llows reserchers to identify nd undertke new lines of reserch. 6 Bibliometric indictors involve the ppliction of sttisticl methods to scientific publictions to obtin the bibliogrphics for ech journl, prticulrly in scientific productivity-relted informtion, which re necessry to the evlution, plnning, nd mngement of given scientific journl. These methods re minly quntittive, nd re lso used to mke pronouncements bout qulittive pictures of scientific ctivities. 7,8 Bsed on the considertions bove, bibliometric nlysis describing publiction trends my give n indiction of the progress of the toxicology profession, s reflected in the peer-reviewed record in toxicologicl journls. The objectives of this study were to nlyse reserch output from HET nd to exmine the uthorship pttern nd cittions retrieved from the Scopus dtbse. Such study will led to better understnding of the current nd future sttus of reserch in HET. Furthermore, the results of the study will help editors nd uthors to shpe HET reserch in the next decde. Methods This study relied on dt from Scopus published from 1 Jnury 2003 to 31 December It is ssumed tht the most recent decde would project the best picture of the pttern of publictions nd the cittions received. A comprehensive online serch ws performed using SciVerse, Scopus, which is one of the world s lrgest bstrct nd cittion dtbses of peer-reviewed literture. Scopus contins 41 million records nd covers nerly 18,000 titles from 5000 publishers worldwide, nd provides 100% MEDLINE coverge. 9 The Scopus dtbse ws developed by Elsevier nd combines the chrcteristics of both Web of Science nd PubMed. These chrcteristics llow for enhnced service for eductionl nd cdemic needs, medicl literture reserch, nd bibliometric nlysis. Scopus offers bsic serch, or n dvnced serch. In the bsic serch, the results for the chosen keywords cn be limited by the dte of publiction, by ddition to Scopus, by subject re, nd by document type. 10,11 The serch output from Scopus cn be presented s list of items per pge, nd extrcted documents cn be exported to Microsoft Office Excel. The results cn be refined by document type, uthor nme, source title, publictions per yer, nd/or subject re, nd new serch cn be initited within the results. 10,11 The keywords entered in Scopus to ccomplish the objective of this study were Humn, Experimentl, nd Toxicology s Source Title. The subject res selected for this reserch were helth sciences, life sciences, socil sciences, nd physicl sciences during 10-yer period ( ). The resultnt serch ws s follows: your query: (SRCTITLE(humn) AND SRCTITLE(experimentl) AND SRCTITLE(toxicology)) AND PUBYEAR > 2002 AND PUBYEAR < The collted dt were used to generte the following informtion: () totl nd trends in HET contributions in reserch between 2003 nd 2012; (b) HET uthorship ptterns nd productivity; (c) collbortion ptterns; nd (d) the cittions received by the publictions. Ethicl pprovl The Institutionl Review Bord (IRB) t An-Njh Ntionl University does not require submission of n IRB ppliction for such study. The IRB considered tht there is no risk for humn subjects in such publictions since the dt re bsed on published literture nd secondry dt, nd did not involve ny interctions with humn subjects. In ddition, the Editor-in-Chief of HET gve us the right to submit our mnuscript in SAGE Open Medicine. Sttisticl nlysis Dt from Scopus were exported to Excel nd then to the Sttisticl Pckge for Socil Sciences (SPSS; SPSS Inc., Chicgo, IL, USA) progrm version 15 for nlysis. Ctegoricl dt re expressed s numbers with percentges. Vribles tht re not normlly distributed re expressed s medin (Q1 Q3: interqurtile rnge). The Hirsch-index (h-index) for the dt collected from Scopus is presented. The h-index represents the number of cittions received for ech of the documents in descending order, while the h-grph mesures the impct of set of documents nd displys the number of cittions per document. The journl s impct fctors (IFs) were evluted using the Journl Cittion Report (JCR; Web of Knowledge) 2012 science edition by Thomson Reuters (New York, USA). Results There were 1229 reserch documents published in HET during the period from 2003 to Of the documents included,

3 Zyoud et l (77.1%) were originl journl rticles, 104 (8.5%) were review rticles, 71 (5.8%) were meeting/conference rticles, 25 (2.0%) were letters, nd 82 (6.6%) were other types of publictions, with n verge of 123 documents per yer. The verge number of included documents published per Figure 1. Totl rticles included in the bibliometric nlysis by publiction yer. yer ws 123, with rnge from 85 to 232. A nonliner, bimodl distribution of documents published per yer ws observed, with pek publictions in 2011 (Figure 1). In Tble 1, list of 20 countries is presented whose reserchers published the lrgest number of rticles in HET during the period from 2003 to When the dt were nlysed by country, the lrgest number of publictions in HET ws from the United Sttes (19.6%), followed by Indi (12.8%) nd Turkey (10.9%) (Tble 1). The totl number of cittions t the time of dt nlysis (8 September 2013) ws 9119, with medin (interqurtile rnge) of 3 (1 9) in 6797 documents. The highest medin (interqurtile rnge) number of cittions ws 8 ( ) for Frnce, followed by 7.5 (2 22.5) for Irn, nd 6 (3 13.5) for the United Kingdom. Of the 1229 documents considered for the h-index, 35 hd been cited t lest 35 times t the time of dt nlysis (8 September 2013). The highest h-index ws 22 for the United Sttes, followed by 21 for the Indi, nd 20 for Irn. Furthermore, the highest number of collbortions with interntionl uthors for ech country ws held by the United Sttes, with 26 countries, followed by 12 countries for the United Kingdom (Tble 1). Tble 2 shows the top 20 most productive institutions in HET. The most productive institution ws Tehrn University Tble 1. The top 20 rnking of the most productive countries tht published the lrgest number of rticles in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology during the period from 2003 to SCR Countries Articles (%) Cit CitArt Medin Cite (Q1 Q3) h- index Collbortions with foreign countries 1st United Sttes 241 (19.6) (1 9) nd Indi 157 (12.8) (1.5 12) rd Turkey 134 (10.9) (1 10) th Irn 70 (5.7) (2 22.5) th Chin 53 (4.3) ( ) 7 4 6th Brzil 45 (3.7) (2 8) th United Kingdom 45 (3.7) (3 13.5) th Germny 42 (3.4) (0.7 11) th South Kore 40 (3.3) (1 5) th Tiwn 39 (3.2) (1 8) th Itly 38 (3.1) ( ) th Jpn 35 (2.8) (0 8) th Frnce 30 (2.4) ( ) th Polnd 29 (2.4) (1 9.5) th Finlnd 27 (2.2) (1 9) th Netherlnds 25 (2.0) (1 9.5) th Cnd 23 (1.9) (2 13) th South Afric 20 (1.6) (1 6) th Nigeri 18 (1.5) ( ) th Spin 18 (1.5) (3 7.5) 7 8 Others (47 countries) 238 (19.4) (1 8) 20 SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking; Articles (%): the number of rticles nd percentges from the totl of 1229; Cit: the number of cittions; CitArt: the number of citing rticles; H: Hirsch-index; Q1 Q3: interqurtile rnge. Equl countries hve the sme rnking number, nd then gp is left in the rnking numbers.

4 4 SAGE Open Medicine Tble 2. The top 20 rnking of the most productive institutions during the study period. SCR Institution, country No. of documents (%) b 1st Tehrn University of Medicl Sciences, Irn 43 (3.5) 2nd University of Msschusetts Amherst, USA 26 (2.1) 3rd Indin Institute of Toxicology Reserch, Indi 21 (1.7) 4th Texs Deprtment of Stte Helth Services, USA 19 (1.5) 6th Yüzüncü Yil Üniversitesi, Turkey 17 (1.4) 7th Universidde de So Pulo, Brzil 15 (1.2) 7th University of Mdrs, Indi 15 (1.2) 7th Työterveyslitos, Finlnd 15 (1.2) 7th Jmi Hmdrd University, Indi 15 (1.2) 7th Loghmn-Hkim Hospitl, Irn 15 (1.2) 12th Süleymn Demirel Üniversitesi, Turkey 13 (1.1) 12th Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Helth, USA 13 (1.1) 12th Chin Medicl University Tichung, Tiwn 13 (1.1) 12th Chin Medicl University Hospitl Tichung, Tiwn 13 (1.1) 16th Hmdrd University, Indi 12 (1.0) 17th Europen Commission Joint Reserch Centre, Ispr, Itly 11 (0.9) 18th UNESP-Universidde Estdul Pulist, Brzil 10 (0.8) 18th University College of Medicl Sciences, Indi 10 (0.8) 18th Mustf Keml Üniversitesi, Turkey 10 (0.8) 18th Mstricht University, Netherlnds 10 (0.8) 18th Veterns Generl Hospitl-Kohsiung Tiwn, Tiwn 10 (0.8) SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking. Equl institutes hve the sme rnking number, nd then gp is left in the rnking numbers. b Percentge of publictions for ech institute from the totl number of documents. of Medicl Sciences (3.5% of totl publictions), followed by University of Msschusetts Amherst (2.1%), Indin Institute of Toxicology Reserch (1.7%), nd Texs Deprtment of Stte Helth Services (1.5%). Tble 3 presents list of the 21 most productive uthors of HET, who hve published t lest seven documents in it during the lst 10 yers. In Tble 4, list of the most cited documents from 2003 to 2012 is shown. The most cited reserch re in the list of the most cited documents from HET ws moleculr biology (13 documents out of 20). Four uthors who were represented s productive uthors hd rticles mong the top cittions (Tble 4). Tble 5 revels yer-wise journl cittions. It is noted tht 2012 hd the lrgest number of cittions, with 1.3 cittions per rticle. A perusl of cittion ptterns shows tht mjority of cittions pertin to journl rticles 6415 (94.3%). A totl of 59 (0.8%) cittions re from books nd 131 (1.9%) cittions pertin to proceedings, while 192 (2.9%) cittions pertin to other sources. From this study, it is cler tht most of the uthors used journl rticles. Tble 6 shows the frequency nd percentge of journls citing HET rticles. The most common cittions were from HET itself. The remining journls in the top 20 were lso closely relted to the interfce of Toxicology. It is importnt to note, however, tht these 20 journls ccount for less thn one-fifth (19.2%) of totl cittions of the documents in our smple. All top 20 journl titles hd their IFs listed in the JCR Tble 7 shows the top 20 rnking of prolific uthors most often citing documents tht were published in HET during the period of study. The most prolific uthors most often citing documents tht were published in HET were M. Abdollhi from Irn who mde cittions in 122 documents, followed by K. Kuc from the Czech Republic who mde cittions in 35 documents, T. Hrtung from the United Sttes who mde cittions in 33 documents, nd S. Shdni from Irn who mde cittions in 30 documents. Furthermore, Tble 8 shows the top 20 rnking of countries of uthors most often citing documents tht were published in HET. Authors from 117 different countries cited HET rticles once or more. The top countries for citing documents tht were published in HET were the United Sttes, with cittions in 1508 documents, followed by Indi with cittions in 792 rticles, Chin with cittions in 442 documents, nd Irn with cittions in 371 documents. Discussion Previous bibliometric studies of publictions in toxicology hve been studied t the interntionl or ntionl level, highlighting toxicology reserch in generl without ny specific interest being pid to individul journls or to the cittions concerned by certin toxicology journls Here, we hve

5 Zyoud et l. 5 Tble 3. The top 20 rnking of prolific uthors who published most frequently in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology, 2003 to 2012, with their ffilitions nd publiction ptterns. SCR Author No. (%) b of publictions No. (%) c of publictions s first uthor No. (%) d of publictions s corresponding uthor Affilition 1st M. Abdollhi 30 (2.4) 0 (0.0) 14 (46.7) Mzndrn University of Medicl Sciences, Deprtment of Phrmcology nd Toxicology, Sri, Irn 2nd E. J. Clbrese 25 (2.0) 16 (64.0) 17(68.0) University of Msschusetts Amherst, Deprtment of Public Helth, Amherst, United Sttes 3rd M. B. Forrester 19 (1.5) 16 (84.2) 16 (84.2) Texs Deprtment of Stte Helth Services, Epidemiology nd Disese Surveillnce Unit, Austin, United Sttes 4th S. Shdni 15 (1.2) 6 (40.0) 0 (0.0) Loghmn-Hkim Hospitl, Clinicl Toxicology Deprtment, Tehrn, Irn 5th J. G. Chung 11 (0.9) 0 (0.0) 9 (81.8) Chin Medicl University Tichung, Deprtment of Biologicl Science nd Technology, Tichung, Tiwn 6th S. Hoffmnn 10 (0.8) 2 (20.0) 2 (20.0) Universität Konstnz, Konstnz, Germny 6th T. Hrtung 10 (0.8) 1 (10.0) 1 (10.0) Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Helth, Bltimore, United Sttes 8th C. Griesinger 9 (0.7) 8 (88.9) 8 (88.9) Europen Commission Joint Reserch Centre, Ispr, Europen Centre for the Vlidtion of Alterntive Methods (ECVAM), Ispr, Itly 9th A. Pjoumnd 8 (0.7) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) Loghmn-Hkim Hospitl, Toxicologicl Reserch Center, Tehrn, Irn 9th C. R. Jn 8 (0.7) 0 (0.0) 6 (75.0) Veterns Generl Hospitl-Kohsiung Tiwn, Deprtment of Medicl Eduction nd Reserch, Kohsiung, Tiwn 9th A. Kinsner 8 (0.7) 1 (12.5) 1 (12.5) Europen Commission Joint Reserch Centre, Vitro Methods Unit, Ispr, Itly 9th J. S. Yng 8 (0.7) 1 (12.5) 0 (0.0) Chin Medicl University Tichung, Deprtment of Phrmcology, Tichung, Tiwn 9th K. Svolinen 8 (0.7) 1 (12.5) 2 (25.0) Finnish Institute Occuptionl Helth, Nno sfety Reserch Center, Helsinki, Finlnd 9th J. Liesivuori 8 (0.7) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) University of Turku, Deprtment of Phrmcology, Drug Development nd Therpeutics, Abo (Turku), Finlnd 9th S. Coecke 8 (0.7) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) Europen Commission Joint Reserch Centre, Ispr, Ispr, Itly 9th H. Vn Loveren 8 (0.7) 1 (12.5) 3 (37.5) Mstricht University, Deprtment of Toxicogenomics, Mstricht, Netherlnds 9th Y. Tuncok 8 (0.7) 0 (0.0) 4 (50.0) DokuzEylul University, Fculty of Medicine, Deprtment of Phrmcology, Izmir, Turkey 18th M. Akhtr 7 (0.6) 1 (14.3) 3 (42.9) Jmi Hmdrd Fculty of Phrmcy, Deprtment of Phrmcology, New Delhi, Indi 18th S. W. Ip 7 (0.6) 1 (14.3) 0 (0.0) Chin Medicl University Tichung, Deprtment of Nutrition, Tichung, Tiwn 18th S. Str 7 (0.6) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) Deprtment of Emergency, Adn Numune Reserch nd Eduction Hospitl, Adn, Turkey 18th A. B. Pnt 7 (0.6) 0 (0.0) 3 (42.9) Council of Scientific nd Industril Reserch Indi, New Delhi, Indi SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking. Equl uthors hve the sme rnking number, nd then gp is left in the rnking numbers. b Percentge of publictions for ech uthor out of the totl number of documents. c Percentge of publictions for prolific uthor s first uthor from the totl number of documents for ech uthor. d Percentge of publictions for prolific uthor s corresponding uthor from the totl number of documents for ech uthor.

6 6 SAGE Open Medicine Tble 4. The top 20 rnking of cited rticles from Humn & Experimentl Toxicology during the period from 2003 to SCR Authors with yer of publiction Title Reserch Are Time cited 1st Cstro et l. (2006) Toxic side effects of drugs used to tret Chgs disese Clinicl report 145 (Americn trypnosomisis) 2nd Akhgri et l. (2003) Biochemicl evidence for free rdicl-induced lipid Moleculr biology 141 peroxidtion s mechnism for subchronic toxicity of mlthion in blood nd liver of rts 3rd Schwrze et l. Prticulte mtter properties nd helth effects: Consistency Clinicl report 130 (2006) of epidemiologicl nd toxicologicl studies 4th Stepnowski et l. Evluting the cytotoxicity of ionic liquids using humn cell Moleculr biology 103 (2004) line HeL 5th Shdni et l. (2005) Evlution of oxidtive stress nd genotoxicity in Moleculr biology 96 orgnophosphorus insecticide formultors 6th Vhidni et l. (2007) Arsenic neurotoxicity - A review Clinicl report 74 7th Guzelin et l. (2005) Evidence-bsed toxicology: A comprehensive frmework for Clinicl report 70 custion 8th Filipic et l. (2006) Moleculr mechnisms of cdmium induced mutgenicity Moleculr biology 67 9th Hoffmnn nd Towrd n evidence-bsed toxicology Clinicl report 65 Hrtung (2006) 10th Azzm nd Little The rdition-induced bystnder effect: Evidence nd Moleculr biology 63 (2004) significnce 11th Clbrese (2010) Hormesis is centrl to toxicology, phrmcology nd risk Moleculr biology 59 ssessment 11th Flck et l. (2009) Genotoxic effects of nnosized nd fine TiO 2 Moleculr biology 59 13th Weltje et l. (2005) Reproductive stimultion by low doses of xenoestrogens Moleculr biology 57 contrsts with the view of hormesis s n dptive response 13th Ahmd et l. (2005) Neuroprotective effects of Withnisomnifer on Moleculr biology 57 6-hydroxydopmine induced Prkinsonism in rts 15th Pollycove nd Rdition-induced versus endogenous DNA dmge: Moleculr biology 56 Feinendegen (2003) Possible effect of inducible protective responses in mitigting endogenous dmge 16th Shdni et l. (2007) Pttern of cute poisoning in Tehrn-Irn in 2003 Clinicl report 55 17th Hque et l. (2003) Aqueous extrct of wlnut (Juglnsregi L.) protects mice Moleculr biology 54 ginst cyclophosphmide-induced biochemicl toxicity 18th Abdollhi et l. Protection by sildenfil nd theophylline of led cetteinduced Moleculr biology 52 (2003) oxidtive stress in rt submndibulr glnd nd sliv 19th Shukl et l. (2003) Protective effect of curcumin ginst led neurotoxicity in Moleculr biology 51 rt 20th Bud (2007) Cynide: Criticl issues in dignosis nd tretment Clinicl report 50 SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking. Equl rticles hve the sme rnking number, nd then gp is left in the rnking numbers. complemented the previous bibliometric studies with detiled nlysis of publictions in, nd cittions to, the HET. We hve provided comprehensive nlysis of rticles published in HET during the pst 10 yers. We see this bibliometric nlysis s resonbly summrizing dt of journl tht is one of the most fmilir nd cited toxicology reserch peer-reviewed journls. Interprettion of publiction trend dt potentilly provides n indirect indiction of the progress of the toxicology profession, s reflected by the peer-reviewed record in toxicologicl journls. 16 As expected, the United Sttes ws the most productive country with its reserchers being the corresponding uthors or co-uthors of 19.6% of ll documents. These documents lso mssed the lrgest number of cittions (Cittions = 1800). Furthermore, the United Sttes lso collected the lrgest number of cittions for documents tht were published in HET during the period of study. We ccounted tht contributions from the rest of the world (outside of the United Sttes) showed to increse stedily during the period of study. Prticulrly, the bibliometric dt indicted tht Turkey nd Irn hve been the mjor reserch contributors from the Middle Est, wheres Indi nd Chin produced the most reserch rticles from the Asi-Pcific region. The 20 most productive countries tht were published in HET include mny ntions fmilir from ny other scientific productivity rnking. 19 Toxicology in

7 Zyoud et l. 7 Turkey nd Irn hs experienced rpid development nd showed gret progress in eduction nd reserch in conjunction with the economic development in these countries over the pst two decdes. 14,20 22 Bsed on the SCImgo Journl & Country Rnk, which is portl tht includes the journls nd country-scientific indictors developed from the informtion contined in the Scopus dtbse (Elsevier B.V.), Turkey hs the first rnk in the scientific productivity in the field of Toxicology mong Middle Est countries by Tble 5. Distribution of documents tht cited 1229 rticles from Humn & Experimentl Toxicology during the period from 2003 to Yer Totl N = 6797 (%) (0.3) (1.4) (3.3) (4.8) (7.5) (10.6) (13.3) (15.6) (19.2) (23.9) publishing 1488 rticles from 1996 to 2012, while Irn hs published 873 rticles t the sme time nd is rnked the second in the Middle Est. 23 These results re similr to the findings of our study. The verge cittion rte for documents from HET ws 7.4 cittions per document. This is slightly less thn the verge cittion rte for most journls in other scientific disciplines. 16,24 Overll, toxicology journls s group hve low cittion numbers compred to other scientific disciplines. 17,18,24 This is likely endorsed to severl fctors. First, the number of reserchers of toxicology is smll, which mens reltively fewer documents hve been published in peer-reviewed toxicology journls compred with other disciplines. Second, the pprent nrrow focus of toxicology journls my encourge reserchers who hve some connection to the field of toxicology to publish their results in journls tht my hve lrger udience thn tht of toxicology journls. 16,25 This exct sitution ws demonstrted in the emergency medicine literture by Cllhm et l.; 26 they reported tht publictions in emergency medicine journls were cited more thn 3 times s often when published in nonemergency medicine journls. Compring toxicology to res such s moleculr biology nd genetics, where new discoveries re mde lmost every dy, humn toxicology is more slowly dvncing science. This cn result in wide disprities between the cittions of journls in different fields Tble 6. The top 20 rnking of journls most often citing rticles tht were published in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology during the period from 2003 to 2012 with their impct fctors. SCR Journl Frequency (%) IF (2012) 1st Humn & Experimentl Toxicology 251 (3.7) nd Food nd Chemicl Toxicology 94 (1.4) rd Toxicology 87 (1.3) th Toxicology nd Applied Phrmcology 82 (1.2) th Toxicology Letters 78 (1.1) th Clinicl Toxicology 69 (1.0) th Toxicologicl Sciences 51 (0.8) th Toxicology in Vitro 51 (0.8) th Journl of Applied Toxicology 49 (0.7) th Environmentl Helth Perspectives 48 (0.7) th Neurotoxicology 47 (0.7) th Pesticide Biochemistry nd Physiology 47 (0.7) th Environmentl Toxicology nd Phrmcology 45 (0.7) th Regultory Toxicology nd Phrmcology 44 (0.6) th Toxicology nd Industril Helth 41 (0.6) th PLoS One 40 (0.6) th Chemico-Biologicl Interctions 40 (0.6) th Interntionl Journl of Phrmcology 36 (0.5) th Ecotoxicology nd Environmentl Sfety 36 (0.5) th Bsic nd Clinicl Phrmcology nd Toxicology 34 (0.5) th Toxicology Mechnisms nd Methods 34 (0.5) SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking; IF: impct fctor; ISI: Institute for Scientific Informtion; JCR: Journl Cittion Report. Equl journls hve the sme rnking number, nd then gp is left in the rnking numbers. The impct fctor ws reported ccording to ISI JCR 2012.

8 8 SAGE Open Medicine Tble 7. The top 20 rnking of prolific uthors most often citing rticles tht were published in Humn &Experimentl Toxicology during the period from 2003 to SCR Author No. of cited publictions Affilition 1st M. Abdollhi 122 Mzndrn University of Medicl Sciences, Deprtment of Phrmcology nd Toxicology, Sri Irn 2nd K. Kuc 35 University of Hrdec Krlove, Deprtment of Chemistry, Hrdec Krlove, Czech Republic 3rd T. Hrtung 33 Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Helth, Bltimore, United Sttes 4th S. Shdni 30 Loghmn-Hkim Hospitl, Clinicl Toxicology Deprtment, Tehrn, Irn 5th M. Beeri 26 Tehrn University of Medicl Sciences, Fculty of Phrmcy, Tehrn, Irn 6th Y. H. Siddique 24 Aligrh Muslim University, Deprtment of Zoology, Aligrh, Indi 7th E. J. Clbrese 23 University of Msschusetts Amherst, Deprtment of Public Helth, Amherst, United Sttes 8th M. Afzl 22 Aligrh Muslim University, Deprtment of Zoology, Aligrh, Indi 8th S. Sultn 22 Jmi Hmdrd University, Deprtment of Medicl Elementology nd Toxicology, New Delhi, Indi 10th A. 21 Tehrn University of Medicl Sciences, Fculty of Phrmcy, Tehrn, Irn Mohmmdird 11th C. R. Jn 20 Veterns Generl Hospitl-Kohsiung Tiwn, Deprtment of Medicl Eduction nd Reserch, Kohsiung, Tiwn 11th O. Mehrpour 20 Birjnd University of Medicl Sciences, Deprtment of Clinicl Toxicology nd Forensic Medicine, Birjnd, Irn 13th G. Ar 19 Aligrh Muslim University, Deprtment of Zoology, Aligrh, Indi 13th P. Vrlkshmi 19 University of Mdrs, Deprtment of Medicl Biochemistry, Chenni, Indi 15th T. Beg 18 Aligrh Muslim University, Deprtment of Zoology, Aligrh, Indi 15th S. J. S. Flor 18 Defence Reserch & Development Estblishment Indi, Division of Phrmcology nd Toxicology, Gwlior, Indi 17th H. Snei- 17 Shirz University of Medicl Sciences, School of Medicine, Tehrn, Irn Zdeh 17th B. D. Bnerjee 17 University College of Medicl Sciences, Deprtment of Biochemistry, New Delhi, Indi 19th I. Ivicoli 16 Ctholic University of the Scred Hert, Rome, Institute of Occuptionl Medicine, Rome, Itly 19th I. Altunts 16 Suleymn Demirel University, Fculty of Medicine, Deprtment of Biochemistry, Isprt, Turkey 19th S. Nikfr 16 Irnin Ministry of Helth nd Medicl Eduction, Food nd Drug Lbortory Reserch Center, Tehrn, Irn 19th D. Jun 16 Fculty Hospitl t Hrdec Krlove, Hospitl Phrmcy, Hrdec Krlove, Czech Republic SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking. Equl uthors hve the sme rnking number, nd then gp is left in the rnking numbers. in comprison to journl with nrrow field. 24 This my be one reson why journls like the New Englnd Journl of Medicine, Lncet, JAMA, Science, nd Nture, whose content encompsses the entire scope of generl medicine, re lwys mong the journls with the highest cittions, which in turn leds to high IF. Since humn toxicology is very constricted field with very smll redership, it should not be stonishing tht toxicology journls hve smll numbers of cittions, which leds to verge IFs. 16,27 On the other hnd, ccording to the JCR 2012, HET IF is 1.453, nd it is rnked the 65th out of 85 peer-reviewed toxicology journls listed in the ctegory of Toxicology. Compred to other journls in the Toxicology ctegory, the highest IF ws for Annul Review of Phrmcology nd Toxicology (21.543), nd the lowest IF ws for Archiv fur Lebensmittelhygiene (0.267). In ddition, ccording to the JCR 2012, HET rticles number during the yer 2012 is 138, nd it is rnked the 23rd out of 85 regrding the number of rticles published in tht yer. The highest rticles number in yer 2012 ws for Food nd Chemicl Toxicology (690), nd the lowest rticles number ws for Journl of Helth Science, nd it ws 0. Furthermore, HET 2012 totl cites ws 2506, nd it is rnked the 43rd out of 85. Compred to other journls in the Toxicology ctegory, the highest totl cites ws for Toxicology nd Applied Phrmcology (15,852), while the lowest totl cites ws for Toxin Reviews, nd it ws 118 (nlysis of dt not shown in result). 28 It ws observed tht most countries such s the United Sttes, Indi, Chin, nd Irn demonstrte high country cittion rte: reserchers from these countries re

9 Zyoud et l. 9 Tble 8. The top 20 rnking of countries most often citing rticles tht were published in Humn & Experimentl Toxicology during the period from 2003 to SCR Countries Articles (%) 1st United Sttes of Americ 1508 (22.19) 2nd Indi 792 (11.65) 3rd Chin 442 (6.50) 4th Irn 371 (5.46) 5th United Kingdom 367 (5.40) 6th Germny 360 (5.30) 7th Turkey 348 (5.12) 8th Itly 301 (4.43) 9th Brzil 244 (3.59) 10th Cnd 240 (3.53) 11th Frnce 236 (3.47) 12th Spin 189 (2.78) 13th Jpn 181 (2.66) 14th South Kore 156 (2.30) 15th Netherlnds 152 (2.24) 16th Polnd 145 (2.13) 17th Tiwn 143 (2.10) 18th Egypt 121 (1.78) 19th Sweden 120 (1.77) 20th Austrli 106 (1.56) Others (97 countries) SCR: Stndrd Competition Rnking. disproportionbly more likely to cite documents tht were produced by their own country rther thn representtive by ny other ntion. 29 Furthermore, strong coopertive ingroup network slnts reserchers to probe the sme reserch questions nd use similr methodology nd dt interprettions, the result of which leds to shre document cittions. 30 However, these country links re visibly overshdowed by lrger interntionl network operting within HET. It is not surprising tht mny prolific uthors who cited documents tht were published in HET re lso mong the most productive uthors such s M. Abdollhi; T. Hrtung; S. Shdni; E. J. Clbrese; nd C. R. Jn. It ws lso interesting to see uthors who hve the highly cited documents from HET re lso mong the most prolific uthors, such s M. Abdollhi; S. Shdni; nd E. J. Clbrese. The most cited documents from HET were review rticles. In generl, journls tht publish lrge number of reviews tend to hve higher cittion rtes thn originl rticles Furthermore, reviews re mong the most cited rticles becuse reviews often cite previously published works from the sme journl. This exct scenrio ws demonstrted by Jng nd Rusynik; 24 they found tht most journls rnked in the top 20 by Institute for Scientific Informtion (ISI) were devoted solely to reviews. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to obtin initil dt regrding bibliometric nlysis of rticles published in one of the most leding toxicology journls. This study is not without limittions, most of which re the sme s those of bibliometric studies performed in other biomedicl fields. This study ws limited to cittions extrcted from Scopus, bering HET in the references nd, therefore, cnnot be generlized to the literture covered by other dtbses such s Google Scholr. However, the study does give cler picture bout the chrcteristics of the documents from HET published in foreign chnnels, especilly those indexed by Scopus. Although the number of cittions for ech publiction might differ from one serch engine to nother, the Scopus serch engine remins one of the best vilble tools for nlysing nd trcking cittions, nd compring cittions mong different reserch groups nd different institutions. 11,35 A study tht compred PubMed, Scopus, Web of Knowledge, nd Google Scholr hs found tht PubMed remins n importnt resource for clinicins nd reserchers, while Scopus covers wider journl rnge nd offers the cpbility to do cittion nlysis. 10,35 37 Conclusion The documents in HET focus principlly on originl dt, with very few review rticles. Review rticles tend to hve higher cittion rtes thn originl rticles, nd hence, the editors nd uthors of HET might usefully promote the submission of reviews in the future to improve the impct of the journl. Furthermore, they need to encourge uthors to cite their own literture, which would further help to increse the impct of the journl. Acknowledgements The uthors would like to thnk An-Njh Ntionl University for giving the opportunities to ccess most recent informtion sources such s Scopus dtbse. All uthors were involved in drfting the rticle, nd ll uthors pproved the finl version to be submitted for publiction. S.Z. conceived of the study conception nd design, orgnized nd supervised the dt collection, nd provided nlysis, interprettion, nd writing. S.A. nd W.S. prticipted in the study design, nd provided criticl revision of mnuscript for importnt intellectul content. R.A. ws involved in the concept nd editing of the mnuscript. Declrtion of conflicting interests The uthors declre tht they hve no competing interests. Funding No funding ws received for this rticle. References 1. Humn & Experimentl Toxicology. Aims nd scope, nv?prodid=journl201813&;ct_p=title&crossregion=mid Est#tbview=imsAndScope (2013, ccessed 9 September 2013).

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