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Bibliometric analysis on A ustralian rural health publications from 2006 to 2012
Author(s) -
Mendis Kumara,
Edwards Tegan,
Stevens Wendy,
McCrossin Tim
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1111/ajr.12122
Subject(s) - medicine , rural population , population , gerontology , environmental health
Abstract Objective To review A ustralian rural health ( ARH ) publications in P ub M ed from 2006 to 2012 and address ARH issues raised by the 2013 H ealth and M edical R esearch report. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting I nternet‐based bibliometric analysis using P ub M ed. MEDLINE ‐indexed ARH publications from 2006 to 2012 were retrieved using P ub M ed queries. ARH publications were defined as A ustralian publications that explore issues relevant to the health of the regional, rural or remote A ustralian population. Two authors independently reviewed a random sample of 5% of publications for validity. Main outcome measures Analysis determined country of origin ( A ustralia); publications relevant to the N ational H ealth P riority A reas, the 2013 N ational R ural H ealth A lliance priority areas and R ural C linical S chools/ U niversity D epartments of R ural H ealth; and journal frequencies and publication types. Results ARH publications increased from 286 in 2006 to 393 in 2012 and made up 1.4% of all A ustralian P ub M ed publications. Combined, the health priority areas were addressed in 52% of ARH publications. R ural C linical S chools/ U niversity D epartments of R ural H ealth articles made up 7% of ARH publications. An increase in cohort studies, systematic reviews and reviews indicated improved quality of articles. ARH articles were most commonly published in the A ustralian J ournal of R ural H ealth (15.9%), R ural and R emote H ealth (13.4%) and the M edical J ournal of A ustralia (6.3%). Striking a balance between broadening the queries (increasing sensitivity) and limiting the false positives by restricting the breadth of the queries (increasing specificity) was the main limitation. Conclusions This reproducible analysis, repeated at given timelines, can track the progress of ARH publications and provide directions regarding future rural health research.