Geography of biomedical publications in the European Union, 1990-98

Abstract

Perceptions of research productivity have been reported to vary widely. 1 Thompson DF Geography of U.S. Biomedical Publications, 1990 to 1997. N Engl J Med. 1999; 340: 817-818 Crossref PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar , 2 Benzer A Pomaroli A Hauffe H Schmutzhard E Geographical analysis of medical publications in 1990. Lancet. 1993; 341: 247 Abstract PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar Thompson reported on the geography of US biomedical publications from 1990 to 1997. He evaluated the number of publications of individual US states listed in Medline, normalised to population size, 1 Thompson DF Geography of U.S. Biomedical Publications, 1990 to 1997. N Engl J Med. 1999; 340: 817-818 Crossref PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar and showed that although highly populous states have correspondingly high numbers of publications in Medline, smaller states can also be productive. 1 Thompson DF Geography of U.S. Biomedical Publications, 1990 to 1997. N Engl J Med. 1999; 340: 817-818 Crossref PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar , 2 Benzer A Pomaroli A Hauffe H Schmutzhard E Geographical analysis of medical publications in 1990. Lancet. 1993; 341: 247 Abstract PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar , 3 Eldor J Geography of medical publication. Lancet. 1993; 341: 634 Abstract PubMed Scopus (22) Google Scholar , 4 Hausen A Reibnegger G Wachter H Geography of medical publication. Lancet. 1993; 341: 634 PubMed Google Scholar , 5 Guardiola E Geography of medical publication. Lancet. 1993; 341: 634 PubMed Google Scholar We compared the number of publications in the European Union (EU) normalised to population size and gross domestic product (GDP).