Iranian Scientific Productions about Gastric Cancer: An Analysis of Web of Science from 1983 to 2017

Scientific productions are among the most important criteria in the development of countries. Gastric cancer is the most common gastrointestinal cancer in Iran. In this study, we aimed to analyze the publications about gastric cancer in Iran from 1983 to 2017 using the Web of Science (WoS) database.

In this scientometric study, at first, all terms related to «Gastric Cancer» were extracted using the Medical Subject Headings. Then, WoS database was searched using these terms. The time frame was until the end of 2017. Then, the results were refined to the countries. The data analyses were performed using Excel software.

Among 38554 records indexed in the WoS, 372 (0.965%) were published in Iran, ranking the country 16th in the world. Compound annual growth rate of Iranian scientific productions was 16.76%. Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were identified as the most productive centers with a contribution rate of 31.45% and 15.05%, respectively. The most international collaborations of Iranian researchers were with the United States (5.37%), Sweden (2.68%), and Germany (2.41%). Most articles were published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (9.67%). Most scientific productions were related to oncology (36.29%), gastroenterology and hepatology (21.23%), and general internal medicine (11.02%). Most scientific productions were published in the form of an “Article” (63.71%). All of the Iranian scientific productions about gastric cancer were in the English language.

Iranian scientific productions in the field of gastric cancer have been increased from 1983 to 2017, although Iran was ranked 16th in the world.