title: Increasing the value of health research in the WHO African Region beyond 2015--reflecting on the past, celebrating the present and building the future: a bibliometric analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the profile and determinants of health research productivity in Africa since the onset of the new millennium.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bibliometric analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In November 2014, we searched PubMed for articles published between 2000 and 2014 from the WHO African Region, and obtained country-level indicators from World Bank data. We used Poisson regression to examine time trends in research publications and negative binomial regression to explore determinants of research publications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 107,662 publications, with a median of 727 per country (range 25-31,757). Three countries (South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya) contributed 52% of the publications. The number of publications increased from 3623 in 2000 to 12,709 in 2014 (relative growth 251%). Similarly, the per cent share of worldwide research publications per year increased from 0.7% in 2000 to 1.3% in 2014. The trend analysis was also significant to confirm a continuous increase in health research publications from Africa, with productivity increasing by 10.3% per year (95% CIs +10.1% to +10.5%). The only independent predictor of publication outputs was national gross domestic product. For every one log US$ billion increase in gross domestic product, research publications rose by 105%: incidence rate ratio (IRR=2.05, 95% CI 1.39 to 3.04). The association of private health expenditure with publications was only marginally significant (IRR=1.86, 95% CI 1.00 to 3.47).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There has been a significant improvement in health research in the WHO African Region since 2000, with some individual countries already having strong research profiles. Countries of the region should implement the WHO Strategy on Research for Health: reinforcing the research culture (organisation); focusing research on key health challenges (priorities); strengthening national health research systems (capacity); encouraging good research practice (standards); and consolidating linkages between health research and action (translation).
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa Warwick Centre for Applied Health Research and Delivery (WCAHRD), University of Warwick, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Olalekan A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Uthman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa South African Cochrane Centre, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Charles Shey
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wiysonge
authors.affiliation: Research, Publications, and Library Services, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Djoue-Brazzaville, Congo.
authors.forename: Martin O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Microbiology & Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nicol
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Microbiology & Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Hussey
authors.affiliation: Research, Publications, and Library Services, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Djoue-Brazzaville, Congo.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ndumbe
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital & University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Bongani M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Mayosi
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D015706:Bibliometrics; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014944:World Health Organization / Q000458:organization & administration
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; PUBLIC HEALTH