title: Visualization studies on evidence-based medicine domain knowledge (series 2): structural diagrams of author networks.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the output of evidence-based medicine (EBM) researchers in China and elsewhere by examining the EBM domains they work within and the networks that exist among them; using visualization methods to analyze these relationships. This maps the current situation and helps with the identification of areas for future growth.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used co-citation matrixes with Pathfinder networks and hierarchical clustering algorithms, and constructed a co-author matrix which were analyzed with a whole network approach. The analyzed matrixes were visualized with the UCINET program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Much of the development of EBM has been centered around three authors, David Sackett, Gordon Guyatt and L Manchikanti, within three different clusters. The main authors of EBM articles in China were divided into nine academic domains. The relations among core authors of articles indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI) was loose. There was a stronger co-authorship network among core authors in the Chinese literature, with three groups and 21 cliques. Nine distinct academic communities appeared to have formed around Li Youping, Liu Ming and Zhang Mingming.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EBM literature contains several key clusters, with universities in high-income countries being the source of the majority of articles. Outside China, McMaster University in Canada, the original home of EBM, is the dominant producer of EBM publications. In China, Sichuan University is the main source of EBM publications. The EBM cooperation network in China is comprised of three major groups, the largest and most productive in this sample is led by Li Youping with Liu Ming, Zhang Mingming, Li Jing, Wang Li, Wu Taixiang, and Liu Guanjian as central members.
authors.affiliation: Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Jiantong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Leye
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Youping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yifei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yongchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.forename: Dake
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001319:Authorship; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002681:China; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*