Bibliometric Evaluation of the Scientific Publication of Researchers at Military Research Centers in the Health Sector of Iran and the World over the Past 5 Years (2016-2020)

Health, according to the World Health Organization, encompasses complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease and illness. This study aims to monitor and evaluate the scientific publications of military research centers in the health field and their researchers over the past 5 years (2016-2020). Military researchers were first identified using an advanced search strategy for various dimensions of health in the Science Direct database. Then, the complete output of their research articles were extracted from the Scopus database. Pearson's correlation coefficient and the Mann-Kendall trend test were used to analyze the data. R software version 4.2.2 was used for data analysis and VOSviewer software version 1.6.18 was utilized for the visualization of scientometrics approaches. Overall, 3771 and 79069 research articles were identified from military research centers of Iran and the world, respectively, in the field of health during a period of 5 years (2016-2020). Military research centers of China and the United States were the leading countries in terms of scientific publications in the field of health. Iran, the United States, England, and Pakistan experienced significant research growth among the top countries during the period of 2016-2020 (P=0.027). Additionally, the United States recorded near-significant growth in international collaboration (P=0.086) and Iran showed near-significant growth in review researches (P=0.086) during these years. Furthermore, a significant correlation was observed between the total number of articles and the ratio of review articles in Iran over time (P=0.017). The military research centers of Iran and the world and their top researchers shared the priorities of the research topics of 'Medicine and Dentistry' and 'Biochemistry, Genetics, and Molecular Biology'. A shift in research focus towards the keyword 'Covid-19' was observed in Iran and the world in 2020. The main findings of the present study focused on the evaluation and visualization of the scientific publication of military research centers in Iran and worldwide, as well as the associated researchers. There is a need to review science and technology policies in order to strengthen weaknesses and sustain strengths.