Scientometric analysis of the scientific outputs of Iran Occupational Health Journal in the Scopus database (2011-2022)

Scientific journals and research papers are considered one of the most important tools for the development and advancement of science. They are also among the most significant means of disseminating and expanding knowledge and science in today's world. Scientific and specialized journals serve as a medium for distributing, accumulating, and producing scientific data and information in every scientific field. The Iran Occupational Health Journal is the first specialized journal in the field of occupational health and safety. Therefore, analyzing the performance of this journal through scientometric methods will provide a comprehensive picture of the individuals, institutions, and topics discussed in the journal. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the performance of this journal in the Scopus database during the years 2011 to 2022.

The present study was conducted using a descriptive-analytical approach with a scientometric perspective. The population of this research included all articles from the Iran Occupational Health Journal in the Scopus database database from the beginning of indexing in this database (2011) until the end of 2022. VOSviewer software (Version 1.6.20) and the scientometric package in R software (version 4.1.0) were used to create scientific maps. Additionally, Excel-2016 software was utilized to measure descriptive aspects of the study.

The results of the study indicate a total of 683 articles from the Iranian Occupational Health Journal that have been indexed in the Scopus citation database from 2011 to 2022. The publication trend of scientific outputs in this journal showed an increasing trend until 2017, followed by a decrease in the years 2018 and 2019. Among the participating organizations, Tehran University of Medical Sciences with a frequency of 329 articles, Iran University of Medical Sciences with a frequency of 251 articles, and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences with a frequency of 240 articles ranked as the top three active universities in producing articles for this journal respectively. The most frequent keywords were Safety, Job stress, Risk assessment, and Musculoskeletal disorders. Approximately 1.69% (472 articles) of the articles have been cited at least once by other articles, while 9.30% (211 articles) remain uncited. The average citation per article was 86.2, and the average citations per article per year was 4.0. 

In summarizing the results obtained from the performance of the Iran Occupational Health Journal, it is evident that the number of citations received by articles reflects the quality and acceptance of the papers by the scientific community. Therefore, the scientific outputs of this journal require more attention in this regard. It is recommended to take measures that will contribute to the long-term improvement of the journal's quality including sharing articles on social media platforms, involving editorial boards with diverse scientific backgrounds (e.g., utilizing the expertise of information science and knowledge management professors), attracting articles produced through increased collaboration among domestic and international researchers, and publishing more review articles alongside research papers to improve the scientometric indicators, increase visibility, and enhance the likelihood of receiving citations for the journal's articles.