Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Current performance and future trends in health care sciences and services research

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Health care sciences and services research (HCSSR) has come to the fore in recent years and related research literature increased rapidly over the last few decades. The main purpose of this study is to describe the global progress and to determine the current trends on HCSSR by using a scientometrics approach to survey related literature in the Web of Science database from 1900 to 2012. The document types, languages, publication patterns, subject categories, journals, geographic and institutional distributions, top cited articles, and the distribution of keywords were thoroughly examined. The results show that HCSSR has increased rapidly over the past 20 years, most notably in the last decade. In total, there are currently 128,728 research articles in 156 journals listed in 39 WoS subject categories. The top 20 most productive countries, and institutions were analyzed in detail, and 11 frequently cited papers and research foci were identified based on citation analysis. HCSSR spans many disciplines and focuses mainly on public, environmental & occupational health and education educational research. Medical Care, Academic Medicine, Health Affairs and Journal of School Health are the core journals with both high quantity and quality. High-income countries make up the leading nations, especially G7 countries. Meanwhile, “emerging economies” are also increasingly engaging this field. American and Canadian institutions have made greater advances in productions, citations, and cooperation, with stronger and better development prospects overall. The hot topics include internet use and decision making in health care, palliative care and end of life research, health status and quality of life, quality of healthcare and patient’s satisfaction, medical education, and health communication. Also, most researchers tend to study health care sciences based on the topics of quality-of-life assessment, and their interest in quality-of-life measures has increased. Increasing attention has been paid to the developing countries, especially “emerging economies” like China. Although health research has made much progress, many questions still remain unanswered and there are few assessments of how well research systems carry out their essential functions. Hence, there is currently an urgent need for timely establishment of an effective health research system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam, T., Hsu, J., de Savigny, D., Lavis, J. N., Rottingen, J. A., & Bennett, S. (2012). Evaluating health systems strengthening interventions in low-income and middle-income countries: Are we asking the right questions? [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Review]. Health Policy and Planning, 27(Suppl 4), iv9–iv19. doi:10.1093/heapol/czs086.

  • Ajjawi, R., & Higgs, J. (2012). Core components of communication of clinical reasoning: A qualitative study with experienced Australian physiotherapists. Advances in Health Sciences Education: Theory and Practice, 17(1), 107–119. doi:10.1007/s10459-011-9302-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderberg, M. R. (1973). Cluster analysis for applications. DTIC Document.

  • Arunachalam, S., & Doss, M. J. (2000). Mapping international collaboration in science in Asia through coauthorship analysis. Current Science, 79(5), 621–628.

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, P., Wiley, S., McEvoy, P. M., & Archer, L. (2011). Depression and anxiety in palliative care inpatients compared with those receiving palliative care at home. Palliative and Supportive Care, 9(04), 393–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bales, M. E., Johnson, S. B., Keeling, J. W., Carley, K. M., Kunkel, F., & Merrill, J. A. (2011). Evolution of coauthorship in public health services and systems research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 41(1), 112–117. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2011.03.018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becerra-Posada, F., Berwick, D., Bhutta, Z., Chowdhury, M., de Savigny, D., Haines, A., et al. (2004). Informed choices for attaining the Millennium Development Goals: Towards an international cooperative agenda for health-systems research. Lancet, 364(9438), 997–1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, S., Adam, T., Zarowsky, C., Tangcharoensathien, V., Ranson, K., Evans, T., et al. (2008). From Mexico to Mali: Progress in health policy and systems research [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Lancet, 372(9649), 1571–1578. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61658-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann, C., Dumitru, R. C., & Prokosch, H. U. (2006). Evaluation of health-related Internet use in Germany. Methods of Information in Medicine, 45(4), 367–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Board, N. S. (2012). Science and engineering indicators 2012. In N. S. Foundation (Ed.). Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation.

  • Borowski, H. Z., Brehaut, J., & Hailey, D. (2007). Linking evidence from health technology assessments to policy and decision making: The Alberta model [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 23(2), 155–161. doi:10.1017/S0266462307070250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, A., & Ba-Nguz, A. (2012). Country planning for health interventions under development: Lessons from the malaria vaccine decision-making framework and implications for other new interventions [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Research Support, U.S. Gov’t, Non-P.H.S.]. Health Policy and Planning, 27(Suppl 2), ii50–ii61. doi:10.1093/heapol/czs039.

  • Caiata-Zufferey, M., Abraham, A., Sommerhalder, K., & Schulz, P. J. (2010). Online health information seeking in the context of the medical consultation in Switzerland [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Qualitative Health Research, 20(8), 1050–1061. doi:10.1177/1049732310368404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, W., Chen, S., Qi, D. C., Gao, X. Y., & Wee, A. T. S. (2007). Surface transfer p-type doping of epitaxial graphene. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129(34), 10418–10422. doi:10.1021/Ja071658g.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dang, Y., Zhang, Y. L., Hu, P. J. H., Brown, S. A., & Chen, H. C. (2011). Knowledge mapping for rapidly evolving domains: A design science approach [Article]. Decision Support Systems, 50(2), 415–427. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2010.10.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David, I., Poissant, L., & Rochette, A. (2012). Clinicians’ expectations of Web 2.0 as a mechanism for knowledge transfer of stroke best practices [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14(5), e121. doi:10.2196/jmir.2016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, H., Archer, J., Southgate, L., & Norcini, J. (2009). Initial evaluation of the first year of the Foundation Assessment Programme [Evaluation Studies]. Medical Education, 43(1), 74–81. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03249.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Development, C. o. H. R. f. (1990). Health research: Essential link to equity in development. New York: Oxford University Press.

  • Du, J., & Tang, X. L. (2013). Perceptions of author order versus contribution among researchers with different professional ranks and the potential of harmonic counts for encouraging ethical co-authorship practices. Scientometrics, 96(1), 277–295. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0905-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enachescu, C., & Postelnicu, T. (2003). Patterns in journal citation data revealed by exploratory multivariate analysis. Scientometrics, 56(1), 43–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faba-Perez, C., Guerrero-Bote, V. P., & De Moya-Anegon, F. (2003). Data mining in a closed Web environment. Scientometrics, 58(3), 623–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falagas, M. E., Karavasiou, A. I., & Bliziotis, I. A. (2006). A bibliometric analysis of global trends of research productivity in tropical medicine. Acta Tropica, 99(2–3), 155–159. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2006.07.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fayed, N., Schiariti, V., Bostan, C., Cieza, A., & Klassen, A. (2011). Health status and QOL instruments used in childhood cancer research: Deciphering conceptual content using World Health Organization definitions. Quality of Life Research, 20(8), 1247–1258. doi:10.1007/s11136-011-9851-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franco, G. (2013). Research evaluation and competition for academic positions in occupational medicine. Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 68(2), 123–127. doi:10.1080/19338244.2011.639819.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Frenk, J. (2010). The global health system: Strengthening national health systems as the next step for global progress. PLoS Medicine, 7(1), e1000089.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frenk, J., & Chen, L. (2011). Overcoming gaps to advance global health equity: A symposium on new directions for research. Health Research Policy and Systems, 9, 11.

  • Frydenberg, K., & Brekke, M. (2012). Poor communication on patients’ medication across health care levels leads to potentially harmful medication errors [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 30(4), 234–240. doi:10.3109/02813432.2012.712021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaertner, J., Wolf, J., Frechen, S., Klein, U., Scheicht, D., Hellmich, M., et al. (2012). Recommending early integration of palliative care—Does it work? [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Supportive Care in Cancer, 20(3), 507–513. doi:10.1007/s00520-011-1111-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, M. E., Hogg, W., Savage, C., Johnston, S., Russell, G., Jaakkimainen, R. L., et al. (2012). Assessing methods for measurement of clinical outcomes and quality of care in primary care practices [Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. BMC Health Services Research, 12, 214. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-214.

  • Gulde, I., Oldervoll, L. M., & Martin, C. (2011). Palliative cancer patients’ experience of physical activity. Journal of Palliative Care, 27(4), 296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gulmans, J., Vollenbroek-Hutten, M., van Gemert-Pijnen, L., & van Harten, W. (2012). A web-based communication system for integrated care in cerebral palsy: Experienced contribution to parent–professional communication. International Journal of Integrated Care, 12, e9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gum, L. F., Prideaux, D., Sweet, L., & Greenhill, J. (2012). From the nurses’ station to the health team hub: How can design promote interprofessional collaboration? [Multicenter Study]. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 26(1), 21–27. doi:10.3109/13561820.2011.636157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafner, T., & Shiffman, J. (2013). The emergence of global attention to health systems strengthening. Health Policy and Planning, 28(1), 41–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamersma, S., & Kim, M. (2009). The effect of parental Medicaid expansions on job mobility [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural]. Journal of Health Economics, 28(4), 761–770. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2009.04.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harden, R. M. (2006). International medical education and future directions: A global perspective. Academic Medicine, 81(12 Suppl), S22–S29. doi:10.1097/01.ACM.0000243411.19573.58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawton, A., Green, C., Dickens, A. P., Richards, S. H., Taylor, R. S., Edwards, R., et al. (2011). The impact of social isolation on the health status and health-related quality of life of older people [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Quality of Life Research, 20(1), 57–67. doi:10.1007/s11136-010-9717-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, C., Stoykova, B. A., Nixon, J., Glanville, J. M., Misso, K., & Drummond, M. F. (2002). Do health-care decision makers find economic evaluations useful? The findings of focus group research in UK health authorities. Value in Health, 5(2), 71–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, I. C., Quinn, G. P., Wen, P. S., Shenkman, E. A., Revicki, D. A., Krull, K., et al. (2012). Using three legacy measures to develop a health-related quality of life tool for young adult survivors of childhood cancer. Quality of Life Research, 21(8), 1437–1450. doi:10.1007/s11136-011-0055-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Investing in health research and development: Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research Relating to Future Intervention Options. (1996). Geneva: World Health Organization.

  • Jadad, A. R., Haynes, R. B., Hunt, D., & Browman, G. P. (2000). The Internet and evidence-based decision-making: A needed synergy for efficient knowledge management in health care. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 162(3), 362–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamali, R., Jamali, A., Poorrahnama, M., Omidi, A., Jamali, B., Moslemi, N., et al. (2012). Evaluation of health related quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome patients [Comparative Study Evaluation Studies Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 10, 12. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-10-12.

  • Kerr, C., Murray, E., Noble, L., Morris, R., Bottomley, C., Stevenson, F., et al. (2010). The potential of Web-based interventions for heart disease self-management: A mixed methods investigation [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 12(4), e56. doi:10.2196/jmir.1438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khanna, D., & Tsevat, J. (2007). Health-related quality of life–an introduction [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Review]. American Journal of Managed Care, 13(Suppl 9), S218–S223.

  • Knapp, J. (2005). What is a co-author? Representations 89, 1–29.

  • Konig, H. H., Bernert, S., Angermeyer, M. C., Matschinger, H., Martinez, M., Vilagut, G., et al. (2009). Comparison of population health status in six European countries: Results of a representative survey using the EQ-5D questionnaire [Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Medical Care, 47(2), 255–261. doi:10.1097/MLR.0b013e318184759e.

  • Laguna, J., Goldstein, R., Allen, J., Braun, W., & Enguidanos, S. (2012). Inpatient palliative care and patient pain: pre- and post-outcomes [Clinical Trial Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 43(6), 1051–1059. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.06.023.

  • Leydesdorff, L. (1997). Why words and co-words cannot map the development of the sciences. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(5), 418–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, L. L., Ding, G. H., Feng, N., Wang, M. H., & Ho, Y. S. (2009). Global stem cell research trend: Bibliometric analysis as a tool for mapping of trends from 1991 to 2006. Scientometrics, 80(1), 39–58. doi:10.1007/s11192-008-1939-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucio-Arias, D. (2007). A validation study of HistCite (TM): Using the discoveries of fullerenes and nanotubes. In Proceedings of ISSI 2007: 11th international conference of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (Vols. I and II).

  • Mackert, M., Love, B., Donovan-Kicken, E., & Uhle, K. A. (2011). Health literacy as controversy: An online community’s discussion of the US Food and Drug Administration Acetaminophen Recommendations. Qualitative Health Research, 21(12), 1607–1617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majumder, A. A., D’Souza, U., & Rahman, S. (2004). Trends in medical education: Challenges and directions for need-based reforms of medical training in South-East Asia [Review]. Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 58(9), 369–380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masel, E. K., Schur, S., & Watzke, H. H. (2012). Life is uncertain. Death is certain. Buddhism and palliative care [Case Reports]. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 44(2), 307–312. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.02.018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNamee, L. S., O’Brien, F. Y., & Botha, J. H. (2009). Student perceptions of medico-legal autopsy demonstrations in a student-centred curriculum. Medical Education, 43(1), 66–73. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03248.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. M., & Bell, R. A. (2012). Online health information seeking: The influence of age, information trustworthiness, and search challenges. Journal of Aging and Health, 24(3), 525–541. doi:10.1177/0898264311428167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, C., & Forbes, K. (2012). Junior doctors’ learning and development in foundation year 1 posts in palliative medicine. Palliative Medicine, 26(6), 851–857. doi:10.1177/0269216311416696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mutschke, P. (2003). Mining networks and central entities in digital libraries. A graph theoretic approach applied to co-author networks. In M. R. Berthold, H. J. Lenz, E. Bradley, R. Kruse, & C. Borgelt (Eds.), Advances in intelligent data analysis V (Vol. 2810, pp. 155–166, Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

  • NINR. (2013). Building momentum: The science of end-of-life and palliative care. A review of research trends and funding, 1997–2010. Bethesda, MD: The National Institutes of Health, The National Institute of Nursing Research.

  • Norgaard, B., Ammentorp, J., Ohm Kyvik, K., & Kofoed, P. E. (2012). Communication skills training increases self-efficacy of health care professionals [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 32(2), 90–97. doi:10.1002/chp.21131.

  • Norman, C. D., & Skinner, H. A. (2006). eHealth literacy: Essential skills for consumer health in a networked world [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Review]. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 8(2), e9. doi:10.2196/jmir.8.2.e9.

  • Oliveira, M., & Gama, J. (2012). An overview of social network analysis. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 2(2), 99–115. doi:10.1002/Widm.1048.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oman, K., Rodgers, E., Usher, K., & Moulds, R. (2012). Scaling up specialist training in developing countries: Lessons learned from the first 12 years of regional postgraduate training in Fiji—A case study. Human Resources for Health, 10(1), 48. doi:10.1186/1478-4491-10-48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, J. C., & Thorson, E. (2009). Health communication in the new media landscape. New York: Springer.

  • Pena-Rosas, J. P., De-Regil, L. M., Rogers, L. M., Bopardikar, A., & Panisset, U. (2012). Translating research into action: WHO evidence-informed guidelines for safe and effective micronutrient interventions. The Journal of Nutrition, 142(1), 197S–204S.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pouris, A., & Pouris, A. (2011). Scientometrics of a pandemic: HIV/AIDS research in South Africa and the World. Scientometrics, 86(2), 541–552. doi:10.1007/s11192-010-0277-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raijmakers, N. J., van Zuylen, L., Costantini, M., Caraceni, A., Clark, J. B., De Simone, G., et al. (2012). Issues and needs in end-of-life decision making: An international modified Delphi study [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Palliative Medicine, 26(7), 947–953. doi:10.1177/0269216311423794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothwell, E., Ellington, L., Planalp, S., & Crouch, B. (2012). Exploring challenges to telehealth communication by specialists in poison information [Research Support, U.S. Gov’t, P.H.S.]. Qualitative Health Research, 22(1), 67–75. doi:10.1177/1049732311420446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sachs, J. D. (2002). Macroeconomics and health: Investing in health for economic development. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 12(2), 143–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarzer, R., & Siebert, U. (2009). Methods, procedures, and contextual characteristics of health technology assessment and health policy decision making: Comparison of health technology assessment agencies in Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Sweden [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Review]. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Healt Care, 25(3), 305–314. doi:10.1017/S0266462309990092.

  • Seeleman, C., Suurmond, J., & Stronks, K. (2009). Cultural competence: A conceptual framework for teaching and learning [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Medical Education, 43(3), 229–237. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03269.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, T., Long, A., Chopra, S., & Kerfoot, B. P. (2011). Impact on clinical behavior of face-to-face continuing medical education blended with online spaced education: A randomized controlled trial [Randomized Controlled Trial]. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 31(2), 103–108. doi:10.1002/chp.20113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soteriades, E. S., & Falagas, M. E. (2006). A bibliometric analysis in the fields of preventive medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, epidemiology, and public health. BMC Public Health, 6, 301. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stepanikova, I., Zhang, Q., Wieland, D., Eleazer, G. P., & Stewart, T. (2012). Non-verbal communication between primary care physicians and older patients: How does race matter? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 27(5), 576–581. doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1934-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suk, F. M., Lien, G. S., Yu, T. C., & Ho, Y. S. (2011). Global trends in Helicobacter pylori research from 1991 to 2008 analyzed with the Science Citation Index Expanded. European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 23(4), 295–301. doi:10.1097/MEG.0b013e3283457af7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundewall, J., Swanson, R. C., Betigeri, A., Sanders, D., Collins, T. E., Shakarishvili, G., et al. (2011). Health-systems strengthening: Current and future activities [Editorial Material]. Lancet, 377(9773), 1222–1223. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60679-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, K. A., Bastani, R., Rubenstein, L. V., Meredith, L. S., & Ford, D. E. (2007). Effect of mental health care and shared decision making on patient satisfaction in a community sample of patients with depression [Research Support, U.S. Gov’t, P.H.S.]. Medical Care Research and Review, 64(4), 416–430. doi:10.1177/1077558707299479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, S. T., Liu, T. W., Shyu, Y. I., Huang, E. W., Koong, S. L., & Hsiao, S. C. (2012). Impact of age on end-of-life care for adult Taiwanese cancer decedents, 2001–2006 [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Palliative Medicine, 26(1), 80–88. doi:10.1177/0269216311406989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorsteinsdóttir, H. (2012). South–south collaboration in health biotechnology: Growing partnerships amongst developing countries. Ottawa: IDRC.

  • Thurston, S. J., Craig, D., Wilson, P., & Drummond, M. F. (2008). Increasing decision-makers’ access to economic evaluations: Alternative methods of communicating the information. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 24(2), 151–157. doi:10.1017/S0266462308080215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilburt, J. C. (2008). Evidence-based medicine beyond the bedside: Keeping an eye on context [Review]. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 14(5), 721–725. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2753.2008.00948.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tromp, N., & Baltussen, R. (2012). Mapping of multiple criteria for priority setting of health interventions: An aid for decision makers [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. BMC Health Services Research, 12, 454. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trout, A., Kirsh, K. L., & Peppin, J. F. (2012). Development and implementation of a palliative care consultation tool. Palliat Support Care, 10(3), 171–175. doi:10.1017/S1478951511000848.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Usher, W. (2011). Developing policies for e-health: Use of online health information by Australian health professionals and their patients. The HIM Journal, 40(2), 15–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Campen, C., Sixma, H., Friele, R. D., Kerssens, J. J., & Peters, L. (1995). Quality of care and patient satisfaction: A review of measuring instruments [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Review]. Medical Care Research and Review, 52(1), 109–133.

  • van der Velden, T., Van, H. N., Quoc, H. N., & Baron, R. B. (2010). Continuing medical education in Vietnam: New legislation and new roles for medical schools. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 30(2), 144–148. doi:10.1002/chp.20068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. doi:10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Spijker, B. A., Majo, M. C., Smit, F., van Straten, A., & Kerkhof, A. J. (2012). Reducing suicidal ideation: Cost-effectiveness analysis of a randomized controlled trial of unguided web-based self-help [Randomized Controlled Trial Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14(5), e141. doi:10.2196/jmir.1966.

  • Walker, H., Anderson, M., Farahati, F., Howell, D., Librach, S. L., Husain, A., et al. (2011). Resource use and costs of end-of-life/palliative care: Ontario adult cancer patients dying during 2002 and 2003. Journal of Palliative Care, 27(2), 79–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall, D. (2005). Curriculum for the foundation years in postgraduate education and training. Medical Teacher, 27(4), 298–301. doi:10.1080/01421590500129696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, N. T., McConnell, K. J., Gallia, C. A., & Edlund, T. D. (2010). Benefit policy and disenrollment of adult Medicaid beneficiaries from the Oregon health plan [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 21(4), 1382–1394. doi:10.1353/hpu.2010.0944.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, L., & Pan, Y.-T. (2010). Research frontiers and trends in graphene research. New Carbon Materials, 25(6), 401–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C. D., & Wang, Z. (1998). Evaluation of the models for Bradford’s law. Scientometrics, 42(1), 89–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wessels, H., de Graeff, A., Groenewegen, G., Wynia, K., de Heus, M., Vos, J. B., et al. (2010). Impact of integration of clinical and outpatient units on cancer patient satisfaction. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 22(5), 358–364. doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzq041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (1995). The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL): Position paper from the World Health Organization [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Social Science & Medicine, 41(10), 1403–1409.

  • WHO. (2004). World report on knowledge for better health: Strengthening health systems. Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2013). World Health Report 2013: Research for universal health coverage. Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, Q., Chen, J., Lyu, P. H., Zhang, S. J., Ma, F. C., & Fang, J. G. (2012). Knowledge map of artemisinin research in SCI and Medline database [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. Journal of Vector Borne Diseases, 49(4), 205–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, Q., Lyu, P. H., Ma, F. C., Yao, L., & Zhang, S. J. (2013). Global informetric perspective studies on translational medical research [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t]. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 13, 77. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yohannes, A. M., Dodd, M., Morris, J., & Webb, K. (2011). Reliability and validity of a single item measure of quality of life scale for adult patients with cystic fibrosis [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t Validation Studies]. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 9, 105. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-9-105.

  • Zhang, S. L., Wang, J. P., & Zhao, Y. J. (2010). Analysis of international proprietary technology development of solid state lighting material. In Proceedings of the 7th national conference on Chinese functional materials and applications.

  • Zhang, C. C., Yu, Q., Fan, Q. H., & Duan, Z. G. (2013). Research collaboration in health management research communities. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 13, 52. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-52.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Centre for Health Statistics Information, Ministry of Health, People’s Republic of China and the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71173249: Research on Formation Mechanism and Evolution Laws of Knowledge Networks). The authors are grateful to Li-xiang Li, Fei-Cheng Ma, Gerard Joseph White, Hassan Dib and Nathan D. Bobai for their helpful discussion and suggestions. The authors would also like to thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, People’s Republic of China

    Qiang Yao, Lian-Ping Yang, Lan Yao & Zhi-Yong Liu

  2. Center for Studies of Information Resources, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Peng-Hui Lyu

Authors
  1. Qiang Yao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peng-Hui Lyu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lian-Ping Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lan Yao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zhi-Yong Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Peng-Hui Lyu or Zhi-Yong Liu.

Additional information

Qiang Yao and Peng-Hui Lyu : joint first authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yao, Q., Lyu, PH., Yang, LP. et al. Current performance and future trends in health care sciences and services research. Scientometrics 101, 751–779 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1383-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1383-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation