Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery (Jun 2022)
Trends in the relative contribution of spine publications by country from 1950 to 2020
Abstract
Study design: Retrospective cohort study. Objectives: Interest in spine-related research has increased globally as the diagnosis and surgical treatment for spinal pathology has increased. This study set to analyze trends in spine publications based on country from 1950 to 2020. Methods: Peer-reviewed publications that were published between 1950 and 2020 from the 11 most prolific countries were analyzed. Results: 15,552,222 publications were identified between 1950 and 2020, of which 461,071 were spine publications. The top 11 countries with the greatest number of spine publications during this period in order were: United States (US), Japan, China, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, Netherlands, and Spain. The US has the highest volume of spine publications, with 43% of all spine publications originating from the US from 1950 to 2020. However, China has seen the greatest increase in spine publications with a 22,500% increase from 1988 to 2020. The percentage of spine publications from non-US countries has been increasing steadily since 1997, and in 2019 over 63% of spine publications originated from non-US countries. Conclusion: The annual number of spine related peer-reviewed publications has increased significantly from 1950 to 2020. During this time period, the US has had the highest volume of spine publications while China has seen the greatest increase in rate of spine publications. The US remains the leader in annual number of spine publications for any individual country, but the percentage of spine publications originating from the non-US countries analyzed continues to grow each year.
