A scientometric study of the scientific output of top Iranian researchers in medical sciences

Scientometrics indicators are used to assess scientists, universities, and research institutes for scientific policy-making. The aim of this research was to assess the status of top Iranian medical researchers using scientometric indicators. The study was carried out using scientometric methods. The statistical population included the top 500 Iranian researchers in the field of medicine who were ranked in the Iranian Scientometric Information Database (ISID) based on some scientometric indicators. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software and Pearson's correlation coefficient, stepwise regression analysis, and Chi-square tests were applied for data analysis. Findings revealed that each researcher had an average h index of 24.04, g index of 40.15, and i10 index of 90.79. There was a positive significant relationship between the number of internationally-collaborated papers and the number of citations received (r = .606, p<.01). The stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the three variables of paper number, citation counts and mean citation rate determined 72% of the changes in the h-index. It can be concluded that researchers publishing more papers are more likely to be cited. However, their scientometric indexes are not always better than those of other scientists.