Analysis of Bioinformatics Research Trends Available in the Clarivate Database

The depth and extent of information available in the current scientific and research community has fostered a rich opportunity to capitalize on the information. In tandem, the bioinformatics is a relatively new field of science, which plays an important role in biological studies and has attracted much attention in various fields such as information technology (IT), mathematics, and modern biological sciences. Accordingly, it seems unavoidable to review studies in this field. This study is carried out aiming to determine the status of articles published in the area of bioinformatics based on the Clarivate database.

This descriptive study was performed by a scientometrics method. The study statistical population included all articles in the bioinformatics field at the Clarivate database from 1970 to 2018. Data collection was conducted through the same database. Excel statistical software was used for data analysis.

The trend of growth in bioinformatics articles at Clarivate Database was increasing from 1970 to 2018, with a total articles reaching 53806 records. In these articles, the most active areas were identified as subject areas of biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB), computer sciences, biotechnology, genetics heredity, and mathematical computational biology. The most active countries were the United States, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The highest number of articles was dedicated to Zhang Y, Wang Y, Wang J, Li Y, and Li J. The universities of California and Harvard in the United States and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have published the highest number of articles. A great number of articles has been published in PLOS ONE journal.

Iran ranks 22 out of 164 countries, which seems favorable to the global status. In view of that, it is possible to reach a better position by paying more attention to studies in this area.