Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. May 27, 2017; 9(5): 127-138
Published online May 27, 2017. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v9.i5.127
International scientific communications in the field of colorectal tumour markers
Krasimir Ivanov, Ivan Donev
Krasimir Ivanov, Department of General and Operative Surgery, Professor Paraskev Stoyanov Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria
Ivan Donev, Clinic of Medical Oncology, St. Marina University Hospital of Varna, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria
Author contributions: Ivanov K designed the study; Donev I performed the information retrieval on the topic; Ivanov K drafted the manuscript; Ivanov K and Donev I were involved in the final approval of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Krasimir Ivanov, MD, PhD, DSc, Professor, Rector, Department of General and Operative Surgery, Professor Paraskev Stoyanov Medical University of Varna, 55 Marin Drinov Street, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria. kdivanov@abv.bg
Telephone: +359-52-650057 Fax: +359-52-651900
Received: August 24, 2016
Peer-review started: August 26, 2016
First decision: October 20, 2016
Revised: November 16, 2016
Accepted: March 21, 2017
Article in press: March 22, 2017
Published online: May 27, 2017
Processing time: 268 Days and 16.2 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To analyze scientometrically the dynamic science internationalization on colorectal tumour markers as reflected in five information portals and to outline the significant journals, scientists and institutions.

METHODS

A retrospective problem-oriented search was performed in Web of Science Core Collection (WoS), MEDLINE, BIOSIS Citation Index (BIOSIS) and Scopus for 1986-2015 as well as in Dervent Innovations Index (Derwent) for 1995-2015. Several specific scientometric parameters of the publication output and citation activity were comparatively analyzed. The following scientometric parameters were analyzed: (1) annual dynamics of publications; (2) scientific institutions; (3) journals; (4) authors; (5) scientific forums; (6) patents - number of patents, names and countries of inventors, and (7) citations (number of citations to publications by single authors received in WoS, BIOSIS Citation Index and Scopus).

RESULTS

There is a trend towards increasing publication output on colorectal tumour markers worldwide along with high citation rates. Authors from 70 countries have published their research results in journals and conference proceedings in 21 languages. There is considerable country stratification similar to that in most systematic investigations. The information provided to end users and scientometricians varies between these data-bases in terms of most parameters due to different journal coverage, indexing systems and editorial policy. The lists of the so-called “core” journals and most productive authors in WoS, BIOSIS, MEDLINE and Scopus along with the list of the most productive authors - inventors in Derwent present a particular interest to the beginners in the field, the institutional and national science managers and the journal editorial board members. The role of the purposeful assessment of scientific forums and patents is emphasized.

CONCLUSION

Our results along with this problem-oriented collection containing the researchers’ names, addresses and publications could contribute to a more effective international collaboration of the coloproctologists from smaller countries and thus improve their visibility on the world information market.

Keywords: Colorectal tumour markers; Scientometrics; International scientific communications; Web of Science; MEDLINE; BIOSIS; Scopus; Derwent

Core tip: Colorectal tumour markers represent a promising option for the early diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of colorectal cancer patients. Dynamically changing environment of the communication infrastructure in this significant interdisciplinary field deserves comprehensive scientometric assessment. By means of this specific approach, valuable and relatively objective information about the trends and perspectives of research and publication output worldwide has been provided. The results obtained and the comprehensive collection of abstracts and full texts of relevant publications on colorectal tumour markers could contribute to the further improvement of the international visibility on the world information market of coloproctologists from smaller countries.