Identification of biomedical journals in Spain and Latin America.

OBJECTIVES: Journals in languages other than English that publish original clinical research are often not well covered in the main biomedical databases and therefore often not included in systematic reviews. This study aimed to identify Spanish language biomedical journals from Spain and Latin America and to describe their main features. METHODS: Journals were identified in electronic databases, publishers' catalogues and local registries. Eligibility was determined by assessing data from these sources or the journals' websites, when available. FINDINGS: A total of 2457 journals were initially identified; 1498 met inclusion criteria. Spain (27.3%), Mexico (16.0%), Argentina (15.1%) and Chile (11.9%) had the highest number of journals. Most (85.8%) are currently active; 87.8% have an ISSN. The median and mean length of publication were 22 and 29 years, respectively. A total of 66.0% were indexed in at least one database; 3.0% had an impact factor in 2012. A total of 845 journals had websites (56.4%), of which 700 (82.8%) were searchable and 681 (80.6%) free of charge. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the identified journals have no impact factor or are not indexed in any of the major databases. The list of identified biomedical journals can be a useful resource when conducting hand searching activities and identifying clinical trials that otherwise would not be retrieved.

COVID-19 and diabetes: Analysis of the scientific production indexed in Scopus.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: COVID-19 has affected the world population, with a higher impact among at-risk groups, such as diabetic patients. This has led to an exponential increase in the number of studies related to the subject, although their bibliometric characteristics are unknown. This article aims to characterize the world scientific production on COVID-19 and diabetes indexed in Scopus. METHODS: Articles on the subject were retrieved using a search strategy and bibliometric indicators of production, visibility, collaboration and impact were studied. RESULTS: The total scientific production was 1956 documents, which have 35086 citations and an h-index of 67. Articles published in Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews (n = 127), as well as those by researchers from the United States (n = 498) predominated. Articles by Chinese authors (n = 314) had the highest impact according to the received citations (n = 21757). India, China and Spain are leading countries in terms of the research in which they participate. There is extensive international scientific collaboration led by China, the United States and Italy. CONCLUSION: The volume of publications on COVID-19 and diabetes and their scientific impact show the incentive that the study of these diseases represents for the scientific community worldwide.

Acupuncture therapy for Alzheimer's disease: A protocol for an overview of systematic reviews.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the fifth-leading cause of death in people more than 65 years old. Acupuncture therapy has been traditionally used to treat various kinds of health problems including AD. This protocol aims to summarize the available evidence from current systematic reviews (SRs) for the efficacy of acupuncture therapy for AD. METHODS: Seven databases will be searched: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, Chongqing VIP (CQVIP), and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM). SRs/meta-analyses (MAs) of acupuncture therapy for AD which were reported in Chinese or English will be included. Study selection, data extraction, and assessment of the study quality will be performed independently by 2 or more reviewers. And the methodological quality, report quality and evidence quality will be evaluated by Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2) tool, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses Statement (PRISMA) checklist and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system, respectively. RESULTS: The article in this overview will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: We expect to compile evidence from multiple systematic reviews of acupuncture therapy in AD patients in an accessible and useful document.Registration number: INPLASY202040035.

Progress and impact of the publications of the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis: A 55 years study.

BACKGROUND: Over the past few years, efforts have been made to ensure that the teachers of the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis (FMT) cite their affiliation to the FMT and the University of Tunis El Manar in addition to their hospital institutions and their research structure in their publications. AIMS: In this study, we proposed to evaluate the FMT's membership in the publications of its teachers, to identify the different types of publications and to estimate the real number. METHODS: In this bibliometric cross-sectional study, we retrieved the FMT publications indexed in medline/pubmed database (1964-June2019). We have chosen the keywords corresponding to the publications of group1 (referenced FMT) and group2 (referenced FMT or annexed hospital-university institutions). Next, we calculated the rate of group1 on group2 and sorted the different types of items in group2. Finally, We estimated, after randomization, the actual number of FMT publications for a 99% confidence interval (99% CI). RESULTS: For groups 1 and 2, 1477 and 5194 publications were retrieved, respectively. The FMT membership rate averaged 28% ranging from 4% (1990-2010) to 44% (2011-2019). Of the FMT publications, 30% were free of charge and 55% were original articles. After a draw for 300 group2 publications, the estimated number of total FMT publications was between 4519 and 4934 for a 99% CI. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential to mention its affiliation to «the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis¼ and to «the University of Tunis El Manar¼ in order to improve the visibility and ranking of our two academic institutions.

The risk of using the Internet as reference resource: a comparative study.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the frequency and the specific problems encountered in accessing Internet references in two leading medical journals during the last 3 years. METHODS: Two investigators independently reviewed all publications in the issues of the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet during October 2005 to March 2006, November 2004 to January 2005, and November 2003 to January 2004. We calculated the total number of references and the subset referred to an Internet source of each article. Then, we visited the electronic sources to identify the Internet references and noted the problems of accessibility, if any. When we failed to directly access the reference in the electronic address provided by the authors, we visited the referred website; if this was also inadequate, we performed Google searches to retrieve the missing reference(s). RESULTS: 465/18,850 (2.5%) and 952/24,630 (3.9%) of the reviewed references in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, respectively, referred to Internet sources; from these we could not access 68/465 (14.6%) and 170/952 (17.9%) in the two journals, respectively. There were increasing proportions of lost Internet references as they age. Searching into the website referred by the authors of the reviewed articles could not provide the missing information in a considerable proportion (62.2%). However, the use of an Internet search engine (Google) helped us to identify references in other websites, reducing the proportion of missing Internet references to 17/465 (3.7%) and 17/952 (1.8%) for the two journals, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The response "page not found" was commonly encountered when we tried to access Internet references in publications of leading medical journals during the last 3 years. A considerable proportion of missing references was identified with the use of Google search engine. Authors of scientific articles should be aware of the problem of missing Internet references and until well-established Internet archiving solutions are in use, they should choose carefully their Internet references from reliable websites whenever it is impossible to avoid using them.

Open access publishing and author-pays business models: a survey of authors' knowledge and perceptions.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess journal authors' current knowledge and perceptions of open access and author-pays publishing. DESIGN: An electronic survey. SETTING: Authors of research papers submitted to BMJ, Archives of Disease in Childhood, and Journal of Medical Genetics in 2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Familiarity with and perceptions of open access and author-pays publishing. RESULTS: 468/1113 (42%) responded. Prior to definitions being provided, 47% (222/468) and 38% (176/468) reported they were familiar with the terms "open access" and "author-pays" publishing, respectively. Some who did not at first recognize the terms, did claim to recognize them when they were defined. Only 10% (49/468) had submitted to an author-pays journal. Compared with non-open access subscription-based journals, 35% agreed that open access author-pays journals have a greater capacity to publish more content making it easier to get published, 27% thought they had lower impact factors, 31% thought they had faster and more timely publications, and 46% agreed that people will think anyone can pay to get published. 55% (256/468) thought they would not continue to submit to their respective journal if it became open access and charged, largely because of the reputation of the journals. Half (54%, 255/468) said open access has "no impact" or was "low priority" in their submission decisions. Two-thirds (66%, 308/468) said they would prefer to submit to a non-open access subscription-based journal than an open access author-pays journal. Over half thought they would have to make a contribution or pay the full cost of an author charge (56%, 262/468). CONCLUSIONS: The survey yielded useful information about respondents' knowledge and perceptions of these publishing models. Authors have limited familiarity with the concept of open-access publishing and surrounding issues. Currently, open access policies have little impact on authors' decision of where to submit papers.