The 2020 research pandemic: A bibliometric analysis of publications on COVID-19 and their scientific impact during the first months
Carlos E. Diéguez-Campa, Department of Neurochemistry, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City; Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez. Mexico
Ivan Pérez-Neri, Department of Neurochemistry, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City, Mexico
Gustavo Reyes-Terán, Coordination of National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals, Mexico City, Mexico
Iliana A. Flores-Apodaca, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez; Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Pediatrics, Mexico City; Mexico
Jorge Castillo-Ledón-Pretelini, Unit of Research in Metabolic Diseases (UIEM), National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Mexico City; Autonomous Metropolitan University, Xochimilco Unit, Mexico City; Mexico
Omar Mercado-Bautista, Unit of Health Sciences. Veracruzana University, Poza Rica de Hidalgo, Veracruz; Sleep Medicine Unit. National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Mexico City, Mexico
Ricardo Álvarez-Santana, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Department of Nuclear Cardiology. National Institute of Cardiology, Mexico City; Mexico
Marco A. Zenteno, Department of Endovascular Neurological Therapy. National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City, Mexico
Brigham Bowles, Department of Endovascular Neurological Therapy. National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City; Westhill University, Mexico City, Cuajimalpa. Mexico
Ángel Lee, Coordination of National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals, Mexico City, Mexico
Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a landslide of publications, from different sources and unequal impact. We considered that the first 3 months are crucial to understand how knowledge has been generated by performing a bibliometric analysis, including the citations to these articles to guide researchers in exploring this field, and to evaluate the relationship between confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths with the number of papers per country. Methods: Scientific publications were obtained from PubMed (January-March 2020) and their citations during the first 6 months retrieved from the Scopus database. An analysis of the number of papers by country, approach (type and category of publication), and impact was made. A multiple linear regression model was implemented to analyze the correlation between the number of publications and confirmed cases and deaths. Results: A total of 2,530 publications were analyzed with 59,104 citations (23.4 citations/ article), written by authors from 67 countries. China was the country with more publications (988, 39%) and more citations (36,416, 63%) followed by the United States with 423 articles (16.7%) and 7,458 citations (12.6%). The coauthorship network identified 10,756 authors. According to the multivariate analysis, both confirmed cases and deaths were significantly correlated with the number of publications per country (corrected by population size and gross domestic product). Conclusion: The correlation with the number of publications suggests that cases and deaths had some impact on the medical literature, reflecting how rapidly the scientific community has been on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2. Coronavirus. Pandemic. Bibliometrics.