A Study of the Science Production in Dentistry Using Web of Science Database (2000-2009)

Statement of Problem: Science production in medical fields such as dentistry is of great significance. Science production can be appropriately directed through recognition of the most effective investigations, the most active institutions and countries in science production domain and also determining the status of specialists. The aim of this survey was to study the rate of dental science production indexed in the Web of Science (WOS) database by Iranian and other countrie's specialists. Using Web of Science, science production in dentistry in 2000-2009 was estimated; revealing 5005 records for scientists around the world and 32 for Iranian specialists. Then, analyses were done using HistCite software. The findings showed that the growth rate of scientific production in dentistry was 64.53% in 2000-2009. USA was in the first rank among other countries; British Dental Journal, Sao Paolo University, and Kokich Vare were the top journal, institution and author, respectively.Data related to Iran showed that Tehran and Shiraz Universities were the first and second top institutions, each with 6 articles. M.H.Fathi with 44 TGCS was the most prolific author in WOS and H.R.Pakshir with 4 TLCS was the most highly published author in WOS in this collection. The findings showed that USA and UK were the first and second top countries in this regard. Iran had only 0.63% of the scientific production of dentistry in the Web of Science database, which is considered low in spite of the importance of this field.