A Bibliometric Analysis of Health and Medicine Research in Uganda

Abstract

Background: Research is one of the many domains that help countries to provide solutions to various challenges and improve facilities. The bibliometric analysis measures the research output of individuals/research teams, institutions, and countries and identifies national and international research networks across the globe. Objective: To examine key research topics, interrelations, and collaboration patterns of published health-related research in Scopus from Ugandan institutions and authors. Methods: Using the search term "Uganda, health, medicine" in the title, abstract and keywords, documents published between 1963 and 2022 were retrieved from Scopus. The extracted records were analysed in terms of keywords analysis and collaboration networks. The R Bibliometrics package was used to analyse and visualise the data. Results: The results reveal to scholars and practitioners the most relevant authors, affiliations, publication sources, trends in research topics and collaborating countries. The results provide valuable information for more investigation into the revealed research trends. Conclusion: Bibliometric analysis of health research in Uganda revealed that the most frequent topics are medicinal plants, traditional medicine and herbal medicine. Research work on malaria, Covid-19 and HIV/AIDS is also evident. There is a significant research collaboration with authors from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Keywords

• bibliometrics
• health
• medicine
• plant medicine
• traditional medicine
• uganda