Citation Analysis and Visualization of Iranian Urology and Nephrology Scientific Publications

Urology and nephrology are the main sub-categories of internal medicine, and relevant research had been grown in recent years.  The present study aimed to analyze the Iranian scientific publications in urology and nephrology indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) from 1900 to 2020.

 This cross-sectional and scientometric study was conducted in 2021. The urology and nephrology records were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WSCC) with a time limitation from 1900 to 2020. Data analysis was performed in the Excel software in terms of descriptive statistics, and the scientific maps were visualized in VOSviewer.

 Until 2020, 3439 urology and nephrology scientific publications by Iranian researchers were indexed in the SCIE. These articles had received 25393 citations in total, with an h-index of 55. More than half of the articles (56.12%) were original, and the majority were published in 2012 (345; 10.03%). Tehran University of Medical Sciences was the most productive and top-cited organization on urology and nephrology, with 914 (26.57%) documents and total citations of 7741. Kajbafzadeh (140; 4.07%) and Basiri (133; 3.86%) were the most productive authors. The most productive journals were the Iranian Journal of Kidney Disease (650; 18.90%) and the Urology Journal (386; 11.22%).

 The results demonstrated increasing of Iranian scientific publications, citations, co-authorship, and international collaboration. While the authors published their articles in higher ranking journals, more significant research budgets and open scientific diplomacy are necessary to promote visibility and motivate international collaboration among Iranian researchers.