Can informetrics shape biomedical research? A case study of the HIV/AIDS research in sub-Saharan Africa Prof OB Onyancha Department of Information Science

Can informetrics shape biomedical research? A case study of the HIV/AIDS research in sub-Saharan Africa

Prof OB Onyancha

Department of Information Science

College of Human Sciences

UNISA

11/7/2013 Onyancha_Inaugural lecture 1

Agenda

• Introduction – value of research and the process• Why research evaluation?• Which methods of research evaluation?• Informetrics and its related metrics• Theoretical basis of informetrics• Application of informetrics in biomedical research –

HIV/AIDS case study• Can informetrics shape biomedical research? If so,

how?• Conclusion


Value of Research


There is an enormous amount of literature that has been published on the role or importance of

research (e.g. Rantanen, 1999)

There is an enormous amount of literature that has been published on the role or importance of

research (e.g. Rantanen, 1999)

RESEARCHRESEARCH

The role of research in society is (i) to increase our knowledge of nature and society, (ii) to increase our understanding of these 3 components of life, and (iii) to provide a scientific basis for actions to make a better world (Rantanen, 1999)

Research Cycle


Source: Greyson, 2009

Missing from most (if not all) models of the research cycle is what I think is the ‘final’ step in the process, namely – research evaluation?

Why Research Evaluation?


The increasing demand for research evaluation can be attributed to an increased emphasis on governance and accountability in both the public and private sectors.

The increasing demand for research evaluation can be attributed to an increased emphasis on governance and accountability in both the public and private sectors.

Broad purposes:Analysis: for example, what funding is most effective in terms of different outputs and outcomes, including the impact of research?Accountability: for example, for those distributing public funds who need to show they are doing the right thing. Likewise, funding organisations need to demonstrate impact to donors.Advocacy: for example, how the research benefits society; this would help funders wanting evidence to support their decisions, or advocates seeking evidence for their cause. Allocation: for example, to prioritise which projects, people and institutions are given funding.

Which methods?


(Source: Geisler, 2001:39)

Informetrics

• Sample of two definitions:– Methodologies that examine “patterns that show up not

only in publications but also in many aspects of life, as long as the patterns deal with information” (Diodato, 1994:ix)

– “Covers that part of information science dealing with the measurement of information phenomena and the application of mathematical methods to the discipline’s problems, to bibliometrics and parts of information retrieval theory, and perhaps more widely” (Hood & Wilson, 2001:294)


Informetrics, scientometrics, bibliometrics, webometrics, cybermetrics and altmetrics


Altmetrics

Webometrics

Cybermetrics

Bibliometrics Scientometrics

Informetrics

Science of Science

Bibliographies – largely

references

Alternative metrics – views, downloads, web

citations, etc

Web presence, visibility and

impact – links, pages,

documents

Whole Internet, cyberspace

Informetric methodologies/approaches

• Several methods/approaches/techniques constitute informetrics methods

• The methods can be divided into two broad categories– Publications count and analysis – Descriptive – Citation count and analysis – Evaluative

• The most recently coined techniques or methods are link count and analysis and altmetrics– follow same approaches as above

• In each of these methods, there are several techniques and measurements that can be applied to assess research


Publications count and analysis

• Publications count is the simplest informetric measurement• Examples of questions that publications count is designed

to answer are:– How many publications, citations, books, patents, etc has a

particular author, group of authors, institutions and/or countries/geographic regions, produced?

– How much has been produced on a given topical issue, discipline, country, regional area, etc?

– How many publications have each been authored by how many authors?

– How many publications were published in a given source (journal, magazine, etc?)

– In how many languages are documents published?– How often does a particular word appear in a text?


Citations count and analysis


Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in articles and books. It uses citations in scholarly works to establish links to other works or other researchers.

Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in articles and books. It uses citations in scholarly works to establish links to other works or other researchers.

The focus areas of citation studies would include:what motivates an author to cite a particular work;the relationship between a citing work and the works cited by it;works cited long after their publication and works cited while relatively new;heavily cited works, infrequently cited works and those that have not been cited at all;how citation practices and patterns differ throughout disciplines or families of disciplines;how citation practices and patterns can be used in the evaluation of information sources; how citation practices and patterns can be used to enhance information retrieval systems.

Theoretical basis for informetrics

• Lotka’s law states– “there are a few researchers who publish a great deal and many who

publish very little or nothing at all” (Ikipaahindi, 1985:171)

• Bradford’s law simply states that:– “If scientific journals are arranged in order of decreasing productivity

of articles on a given subject, they may be divided into a nucleus of periodicals more particularly devoted to the subject and several groups or zones containing the same number of articles as the nucleus, when the number of periodicals in the nucleus and succeeding zones will be as 1: k: k2 where the constant k is known as Bradford’s constant or multiplier (Ungern-Sternberg, 2000)

• Zipf’s law is based on– The fact that people tend to use a “small part of their available

vocabulary for most communication” (Wallace, 1989)


Application of informetrics in biomedical research


A Comparative Study of the Literature on HIV/AIDS in Kenya and Uganda: A Bibliometric Study

The study found that

Although Uganda has, for a long time, been unstable politically from the persistent fights—a situation that could have hindered effective research—research activities regarding HIV/AIDS were focused in the country more than they were in Kenya.

Although Uganda has, for a long time, been unstable politically from the persistent fights—a situation that could have hindered effective research—research activities regarding HIV/AIDS were focused in the country more than they were in Kenya.

We expected more HIV/AIDS research on Kenya, throughout the entire period of study, considering Kenya’s continued increase in HIV infections besides the country’s favourable research environment.


Journals are major players as far as research dissemination is concernedJournals are major players as far as research dissemination is concerned

Productivity, and Scientific Impact of Sources of HIV/AIDS Research in Eastern and Southern Africa

The study concluded that the coverage of HIV/AIDS sources published in Africa in the MEDLINE and ISI databases is minimal

The study concluded that the coverage of HIV/AIDS sources published in Africa in the MEDLINE and ISI databases is minimal

Most journals that are gaining in popularity are those that are electronically available; this perhaps explains why some African journals, which are largely available only in print, are not easily internationally visible — thus affecting their impact

Most journals that are gaining in popularity are those that are electronically available; this perhaps explains why some African journals, which are largely available only in print, are not easily internationally visible — thus affecting their impact

To achieve wider circulation, visibility and impact, we recommend that such journals be published online


Authorship patterns of the literature on HIV/AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa: an exposition of the

responsible authors, institutions and countries

Foreign authorship dominated the scene and that majority of the publications were published in foreign countries

E&S African countries Rest of Africa Foreign TOTAL

No. of

Countries% ofTotal

No. ofCountries

% of Total

No. ofCountries

% of Total

South Africa 13 15.29 16 18.82 56 65.88 85

Kenya 12 16.90 13 18.31 46 64.79 71

Uganda 11 15.94 14 20.29 44 63.77 69

Tanzania 12 17.65 17 25.00 39 57.35 68

Zambia 10 17.24 13 22.41 35 60.34 58

Zimbabwe 13 23.21 12 21.43 31 55.36 56

Malawi 12 23.53 8 15.69 31 60.78 51

Ethiopia 10 26.32 3 7.89 25 65.79 38

A total of 120 countries (43 African and 77 foreign countries) – including the countries within the scope of this study authored at least 1 paper

The most productive regional (African) countries were led by South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Botswana, and Cameroon

The most productive regional (African) countries were led by South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Botswana, and Cameroon

The most productive foreign country was the USA (2429), followed by England with 1412 papers. These two countries recorded a total of 3841 postings which accounted for 54.55% of the total foreign hits (i.e. 7041)

The most productive foreign country was the USA (2429), followed by England with 1412 papers. These two countries recorded a total of 3841 postings which accounted for 54.55% of the total foreign hits (i.e. 7041)


Country-wise collaborations in HIV/AIDS research in Kenya and South Africa


75 countries 56 countriesThe two countries largely collaborate with foreign countries, with the USA emerging as the strongest collaborator

Kenya exhibited stronger links with foreign countries while South Africa had much of its papers published through internal collaborations

Kenya exhibited stronger links with foreign countries while South Africa had much of its papers published through internal collaborations

Impact-wise, Kenya’s papers produced a higher average impact (i.e. 7.32 in single and 20.18 in co-authored papers) than South Africa’s papers (4.16 in single and 8.05 in co-authored papers)

Impact-wise, Kenya’s papers produced a higher average impact (i.e. 7.32 in single and 20.18 in co-authored papers) than South Africa’s papers (4.16 in single and 8.05 in co-authored papers)

Co-authored papers yielded a higher average impactthan the single-authored papersCo-authored papers yielded a higher average impactthan the single-authored papers

Changing patterns and trends in author co-authorship networks of HIV/AIDS research in Eastern and Southern

Africa

1981-1985

2001-2005

2

18

Author co-authorship Networks, 1981-2005: 15


Subject content analysis of the HIV/AIDS research in eastern and southern Africa


Year No. of Terms2004-2005 171242001-2003 255241998-2000 196361995-1997 161391992-1994 98971989-1991 66341986-1988 20901983-1985 4531980-1982 127

Rank No. of Hits

1Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 29

2 Sarcoma, Kaposi 22

3 Retroviridae Infections 153 Adolescence 154 Antibodies, Viral 145 Deltaretrovirus 13

Rank No. of Hits

1 Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 172

2 HIV Seropositivity 383 Antibodies, Viral 364 Adolescence 345 HIV Antibodies 326 HIV 30

1983-19851983-1985

1986-19871986-1987

No. Main MESH Terms 1992-1994

1995-1997

1998-2000

2001-2003

2004-2005

1 HIV Infections 1 1 1 1 1

2 Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

2 2 2 2 2

3 HIV-1 4 4 3 3 3

4 Adolescence 3 3 4 4 4

5 Pregnancy Complications, Infectious

21 24 8 9 5

6 Anti-HIV Agents 6 3 6

7 Pregnancy 14 15 5 6 7

8 Risk Factors 7 10 14 11 8

9 Disease Transmission, Vertical

11 13 9

10 HIV Seropositivity 6 7 7 7 10

An informetric investigation of the relatedness of opportunistic infections to HIV/AIDS


Rank HIV/AIDS1 Cytomegalovirus 222 370 511 694 939 910 225 38712 Pneumocystis

carinii213 340 692 943 813 545 119 3665

3 Toxoplasma 62 121 230 364 383 260 51 14714 Mycobacterium

avium-intracellulare

0 0 142 244 465 343 72 1266

5 Mycobacterium tuberculosis

0 7 49 149 254 324 84 867

6 Herpes simplex 32 69 98 96 104 159 33 591

Year of Publication’82-’84

’85-’87

’88-’90

‘91-’93

‘94-’96

‘97-’99

‘00-’03

TOTAL0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

1982-1984

1985-1987

1988-1990

1991-1993

1994-1996

1997-1999

2000-2003

1982-2003

Publication Year

Str

ength

of

Associa

tion

Pneumocystis carinii

Cytomegalovirus

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare

Toxoplasma

Cryptococcus neoformans

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Herpes simplex

Candida albicans

Isospora

Cryptosporidium parvum

Varicella zoster

Histoplasma capsulatum

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Salmonella

Staphylococcus aureus

Haemophilus influenzae

Shigella

Is HIV/AIDS in Africa distinct? What can we learn from the literature?


The basis of the study


The study stemmed from South Africa’s former president, Thabo Mbeki’s argument that “it is obvious that whatever lessons we have to, and may draw from, the West about the grave issue of HIV/AIDS, a simple superimposition of Western experience on African reality would be absurd and illogical” (as cited in Cohen, 2000)

It has been observed that not only do the manifestations of the AIDS disease in Africa differ from those in the West but, as Cohen (2000) observes, AIDS-related diseases, and possibly disease progression itself, differ in the continent (i.e. from region to region) (Cohen, 2000)

It has been observed that not only do the manifestations of the AIDS disease in Africa differ from those in the West but, as Cohen (2000) observes, AIDS-related diseases, and possibly disease progression itself, differ in the continent (i.e. from region to region) (Cohen, 2000)

Methods used

• Content analysis and specifically co-word analysis– Co-Word analysis is a content analysis technique that

“reveals patterns and trends in technical discourse by measuring the association strengths of terms representative of relevant publications or other texts produced in a technical field” (Coulter, Monarch & Konda, 1998:1206)

• Variables considered– Opportunistic infections, pre-disposing factors, risk

factors, sexually transmitted diseases, and other tropical diseases most commonly associated with HIV/AIDS in Africa


Results


Opportunistic diseases AND HIV/AIDS


HIV/AIDS was associated with 21 opportunistic infections, led by Tuberculosis, followed by Pneumonia, Mycobacterium Avium Complex, Cancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma

HIV/AIDS was associated with 21 opportunistic infections, led by Tuberculosis, followed by Pneumonia, Mycobacterium Avium Complex, Cancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma

Opportunistic infections/diseases that

exhibited high strengths of association with HIV/AIDS

Pre-disposing factors AND HIV/AIDS


The factors that could be influencing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region include culture, substance or drug abuse, malnutrition, rural-related factors and activities, violence, rape, labor migration, ignorance, broken marriages, war, poverty, inequality, socioeconomic factors, refugees and war.

The factors that could be influencing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region include culture, substance or drug abuse, malnutrition, rural-related factors and activities, violence, rape, labor migration, ignorance, broken marriages, war, poverty, inequality, socioeconomic factors, refugees and war.

Pre-disposing factors that exhibited high strengths of

association with HIV/AIDS and may be playing a big role in the

spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa

Risk factors AND HIV/AIDS


Most common HIV/AIDS-associated risk factors constitute sexual intercourse, vertical transmission (mother to child during birth), blood transfusions and contaminated needles (intravenous drug use, needle stick injuries)

Most common HIV/AIDS-associated risk factors constitute sexual intercourse, vertical transmission (mother to child during birth), blood transfusions and contaminated needles (intravenous drug use, needle stick injuries)

Risk factors that exhibited high strengths of association with

HIV/AIDS and may be playing a big role in HIV infections in

Africa

Other sexually transmitted diseases AND HIV/AIDS


Papillomavirus Infection was the most common in HIV/AIDS titles. There were other high co-occurrence frequencies from genital warts, hepatitis B, syphilis, bacterial vaginosis, and herpes zoster

Papillomavirus Infection was the most common in HIV/AIDS titles. There were other high co-occurrence frequencies from genital warts, hepatitis B, syphilis, bacterial vaginosis, and herpes zoster

STDs/Is that exhibited high strengths of association with

HIV/AIDS and may be increasing the risk of HIV transfer in Africa

Other tropical diseases AND HIV/AIDS


Out of the total 24 diseases, slightly over one-half (½) co-occurred with HIV/AIDSOut of the total 24 diseases, slightly over one-half (½) co-occurred with HIV/AIDS

The highest frequency of co-occurrence was recorded by tuberculosis (S=0.17)The highest frequency of co-occurrence was recorded by tuberculosis (S=0.17)

Other terms that were linked to HIV/AIDS descriptors include cholera (S=0.01), hepatitis (S=0.04), hypertension (S=0.01), leishmaniasis (S=0.02), malaria (S=0.08), malnutrition (S=0.03), meningitis (S=0.02), polio (S=0.02), schistomiasis (S=0.01), sickle cell (S=0.05), and syphilis (S=0.01)

People living in the poorest countries are the most vulnerable to malaria. In 2010, 90% of all malaria deaths occurred in the WHO African Region, mostly among children under five years of age (WHO, 2013).

People living in the poorest countries are the most vulnerable to malaria. In 2010, 90% of all malaria deaths occurred in the WHO African Region, mostly among children under five years of age (WHO, 2013).

Can informetrics shape biomedical research? How?


BUT, as Debackere & Glanzel (2004: 261) argue, “bibliometric information may serve highly different objectives simultaneously”

We believe that it canWe believe that it can

The studies have demonstrated that informetrics can assist in policy-making decisions on such matters as funding but also the findings can lead to the identification of possible research collaborators; predict or forecasting changes; identification of influential journals through which biomedical research can be disseminated as well as obtained; and the identification, recruitment, tenure, and/or promotion of researchers

The studies have demonstrated that informetrics can assist in policy-making decisions on such matters as funding but also the findings can lead to the identification of possible research collaborators; predict or forecasting changes; identification of influential journals through which biomedical research can be disseminated as well as obtained; and the identification, recruitment, tenure, and/or promotion of researchers

Various authors including this author have observed changes in informetrics structure can be correlated with changes in scientific knowledge and understanding (Onyancha & Ocholla, 2005; Onyancha & Ocholla, 2009; Small & Greenlee, 1989; and Russell & Rousseau, nd).

Various authors including this author have observed changes in informetrics structure can be correlated with changes in scientific knowledge and understanding (Onyancha & Ocholla, 2005; Onyancha & Ocholla, 2009; Small & Greenlee, 1989; and Russell & Rousseau, nd).

Conclusion


We conclude by reiterating Wormell’s (2000: 133) argument thus: Access to information itself today does not signify either competitive advantage or guarantee the feeling of being informed, neither in the research nor the business environment. The sophisticated value of online information provision is not to use the databases only for finding facts and accessing documents, but to tap the unique items of useful information, the nuggets of knowledge and (by synthesis and/or analysis) extract the ‘searched pattern’ in the raw data.

Thanks for your attention


Documents

Can informetrics shape biomedical research? A case study of the HIV/AIDS research in sub-Saharan Africa Prof OB Onyancha Department of Information Science