A bibliometric study of scientific research conducted on second-generation antipsychotic drugs in Singapore.
BACKGROUND
A bibliometric study was carried out to ascertain the volume and impact of scientific literature published on second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) in Singapore from 1997 to 2011.


METHODS
A search of the EMBASE and MEDLINE databases was performed to identify articles originating from Singapore that included the descriptors 'atypic* antipsychotic*', 'second-generation antipsychotic*', 'clozapine', 'risperidone', 'olanzapine', 'ziprasidone', 'quetiapine', 'sertindole', 'aripiprazole', 'paliperidone', 'amisulpride', 'zotepine', 'asenapine', 'iloperidone', 'lurasidone', 'perospirone' and 'blonanserin' in the article titles. Certain bibliometric indicators of production and dispersion (e.g. Price's Law on the increase of scientific literature, and Bradford's Law) were applied, and the participation index of various countries was calculated. The bibliometric data was also correlated with some social and health data from Singapore, such as the total per capita expenditure on health and gross domestic expenditure on research and development.


RESULTS
From 1997 to 2011, a total of 51 articles on SGAs in Singapore were published. Our results suggested non-fulfilment of Price's Law (r = 0.0648 after exponential adjustment vs. r = 0.2140 after linear adjustment). The most widely studied drugs were clozapine (21 articles), risperidone (16 articles) and olanzapine (8 articles). Division into Bradford zones yielded a nucleus occupied by the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (6 articles) and the Singapore Medical Journal(4 articles). The analysed material was published in a total of 30 journals, with the majority from six journals. Four of these six journals have an impact factor greater than 2.


CONCLUSIONS
Publications on SGAs in Singapore are still too few to confirm an exponential growth of scientific literature.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Camilo José Cela University, C/ Castillo de Alarcón, 49, Urb Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain. francisco.lopez.munoz@gmail.com.
Francisco
F
López-Muñoz
Kang
K
Sim
Winston Wu
WW
Shen
Lorena
L
Huelves
Raquel
R
Moreno
Juan de Dios
Jde D
Molina
Gabriel
G
Rubio
Concha
C
Noriega
Miguel Ángel
MÁ
Pérez-Nieto
Cecilio
C
Alamo
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D003024:Clozapine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D000077152:Olanzapine; D011642:Publications; D018967:Risperidone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012846:Singapore
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D003024:Clozapine; D018967:Risperidone; D000077152:Olanzapine