Article Sidebar
Keywords:
bibliometric analysis cancer research Cancer Association of South Africa CANSA
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
By submitting manuscripts to SAFP, authors of original articles are assigning copyright to the SA Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care. Copyright of review articles are assigned to the Publisher, Medpharm Publications (Pty) Ltd, unless otherwise specified. Authors may use their own work after publication without written permission, provided they acknowledge the original source. Individuals and academic institutions may freely copy and distribute articles published in SAFP for educational and research purposes without obtaining permission.
Main Article Content
A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Publications Funded Partially by the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) during a 10-year Period (1994-2003)
Abstract
Background: The objective of this study was to establish the quantity and quality of research publications outputs by grant recipients of the Cancer
Association of South Africa (CANSA) over a 10-year period (1994–2003).
Methods: Peer-reviewed publications in the PubMed database that were related to CANSA grants and were, published between 1994 and 2003 were
counted per grantee in 2005, and the mean impact factor of all publications for 2005 was obtained from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
Results: Over the 10-year period, 129 different researchers from 10 different institutions conducted 192 projects that yielded 570 relevant peerreviewed publications that are recorded in the PubMed database. CANSA grants totalled R28.2 million and the mean impact factor of all the
publications was 3.8. The number of publications per grantee, over the period analysed, varied considerably, from zero to 79, with 10% of the
grantees publishing more than 10 (one per year). A significant group of 36% did not publish at all. Most of the studies (64%) concerned aspects of
cancer biology and therapy, while only 26% of the projects involved issues relating to the prevention, epidemiology and social aspects of cancer.
Conclusions: Because grants from CANSA are partial and do not pay for the major components of most research projects, such as salaries, the
data obtained here is insufficient to create a benchmark for the cost of an average, peer-reviewed cancer research publication in South Africa.
Nevertheless, it can be concluded that, on average, a contribution of about R50 000 from CANSA (value from 1994 to 2003) contributed to the
appearance of one peer-reviewed cancer research publication with an average impact factor of 3.8 in the period under study. The most popular
subjects of research were cancer biology and treatment. In order to bring about more balance in the future, more attention needs to be focused on
the prevention, early detection, epidemiology and social aspects of cancer.
Association of South Africa (CANSA) over a 10-year period (1994–2003).
Methods: Peer-reviewed publications in the PubMed database that were related to CANSA grants and were, published between 1994 and 2003 were
counted per grantee in 2005, and the mean impact factor of all publications for 2005 was obtained from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
Results: Over the 10-year period, 129 different researchers from 10 different institutions conducted 192 projects that yielded 570 relevant peerreviewed publications that are recorded in the PubMed database. CANSA grants totalled R28.2 million and the mean impact factor of all the
publications was 3.8. The number of publications per grantee, over the period analysed, varied considerably, from zero to 79, with 10% of the
grantees publishing more than 10 (one per year). A significant group of 36% did not publish at all. Most of the studies (64%) concerned aspects of
cancer biology and therapy, while only 26% of the projects involved issues relating to the prevention, epidemiology and social aspects of cancer.
Conclusions: Because grants from CANSA are partial and do not pay for the major components of most research projects, such as salaries, the
data obtained here is insufficient to create a benchmark for the cost of an average, peer-reviewed cancer research publication in South Africa.
Nevertheless, it can be concluded that, on average, a contribution of about R50 000 from CANSA (value from 1994 to 2003) contributed to the
appearance of one peer-reviewed cancer research publication with an average impact factor of 3.8 in the period under study. The most popular
subjects of research were cancer biology and treatment. In order to bring about more balance in the future, more attention needs to be focused on
the prevention, early detection, epidemiology and social aspects of cancer.
