ArticlePloS one2015
Measuring the outcome of biomedical research: a systematic literature review.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Primary headache research output and association with socioeconomic factors in Southeast Asia: a bibliometric analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2021Pooled it
- Evaluating cancer research impact: lessons and examples from existing reviews on approaches to research impact assessment.Health research policy and systems · 2021Pooled it
- How do we define the policy impact of public health research? A systematic review.Health research policy and systems · 2017Pooled it
- Measuring scientific coherence between global neglected tropical disease research and population health indicators: a 25-year meta-research study.Frontiers in research metrics and analytics · 2026Article
- Estimating scientific coherence using population-level indicators and research production data: a longitudinal analytical proof-of-concept study.Frontiers in research metrics and analytics · 2026Article
- Fault diagnosis of photovoltaic systems using artificial intelligence: A bibliometric approach.Heliyon · 2023Article
- A Bibliometric Analysis on Viral Central Nervous System Infection Research Productivity in Southeast Asia.Cureus · 2023Review
- Contributions to the American Society of Hematology Meeting From Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An In-Depth Analysis and Call to Action.JCO global oncology · 2021Article
- Bibliometric analysis of bacterial central nervous system infection research in Southeast Asia.BMC neurology · 2021Article
- A decade of Ecuador´s efforts to raise its health research output: a bibliometric analysis.Global health action · 2021Article
- Measuring the academic value of academic medical centers: describing a methodology for developing an evaluation model at one Academic Medical Center.Israel journal of health policy research · 2019Article
- Impact of Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program clinical trials on practice guidelines for high blood pressure management.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2019Article
- Does citation matter? Research citation in policy documents as an indicator of research impact - an Australian obesity policy case-study.Health research policy and systems · 2018Article
- Looking both ways: a review of methods for assessing research impacts on policy and the policy utilisation of research.Health research policy and systems · 2018Review
- Where are Romanian biomedical journals now and what does the future hold for them? A scientometric analysis.Clujul medical (1957) · 2018Article
- Reflections on the Future of Pharmaceutical Public-Private Partnerships: From Input to Impact.Pharmaceutical research · 2017Review
- Identifying potential indicators to measure the outcome of translational cancer research: a mixed methods approach.Health research policy and systems · 2015Article
- Social Network Analysis As a Tool for Research Policy.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2015Article
- Factors associated with citation rate of randomised controlled trials in physiotherapy.Archives of physiotherapy · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is an increasing need to evaluate the production and impact of medical research produced by institutions. Many indicators exist, yet we do not have enough information about their relevance. The objective of this systematic review was (1) to identify all the indicators that could be used to measure the output and outcome of medical research carried out in institutions and (2) enlist their methodology, use, positive and negative points. METHODOLOGY: We have searched 3 databases (Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science) using the following keywords: [Research outcome* OR research output* OR bibliometric* OR scientometric* OR scientific production] AND [indicator* OR index* OR evaluation OR metrics]. We included articles presenting, discussing or evaluating indicators measuring the scientific production of an institution. The search was conducted by two independent authors using a standardised data extraction form. For each indicator we extracted its definition, calculation, its rationale and its positive and negative points. In order to reduce bias, data extraction and analysis was performed by two independent authors.
findingsWe included 76 articles. A total of 57 indicators were identified. We have classified those indicators into 6 categories: 9 indicators of research activity, 24 indicators of scientific production and impact, 5 indicators of collaboration, 7 indicators of industrial production, 4 indicators of dissemination, 8 indicators of health service impact. The most widely discussed and described is the h-index with 31 articles discussing it. DISCUSSION: The majority of indicators found are bibliometric indicators of scientific production and impact. Several indicators have been developed to improve the h-index. This indicator has also inspired the creation of two indicators to measure industrial production and collaboration. Several articles propose indicators measuring research impact without detailing a methodology for calculating them. Many bibliometric indicators identified have been created but have not been used or further discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.