Scientific Production Cooperation Network of Iranian Hematology and Oncology Research Centers

Recently, cancer has become one of the most dangerous diseases in the world due to environmental reasons. This study endeavored to analyze and map the scientific cooperation network of researchers in blood and oncology research centers.

This descriptive study was performed with a scientometric approach using network analysis. The population of the research included documents produced by researchers of hematology and oncology research centers in Iran, which were indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database until the end of the academic year 2019.

Tehran and Mazandaran Universities of Medical Sciences had the most cooperation compared with their counterparts by producing 100 joint documents. The highest international cooperation was allocated to the United States (US), Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, and Australia. Besides, international articles with an average citation of 41.75 were significantly more considered and referred than national documents (with an average citation of 7.45) (P < 0.001). The study of the correlation between the number of citations and the number of partner countries also showed a significant positive and moderate relationship between these two variables (r = 0.353, P < 0.001).

Academic collaborations, especially at the international level, have a positive effect on the citation of scientific documents. Therefore, the attention of research policymakers and researchers to this issue can help increase the publication quality of scientific articles.