title: Progress and Prospect: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Papers by Korean Allergists Over Recent Five Years (2009-2013).
abstract: Since the establishment of the academic society in 1972, Korean allergists have made continuous efforts to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic advances for allergic diseases. The present study aimed to summarize recent progress and explore future prospects of research performance by Korean allergists. We performed a comprehensive bibliometric analysis for research papers published in the Science Citation Index (SCI) or SCI-expanded journals by Korean allergists between 2009 and 2013. Research performance was quantitatively analyzed for the numbers of papers by publication year, research type, and main topic. In addition, the performance was also examined for qualitative indices, such as impact factor and citation number. A total of 1,091 papers were identified. The number of publication increased continuously, with an annual increase rate of 12.3%. Clinical and basic studies were the most frequent types of research, and recently the number of epidemiological studies has increased. By research topic, asthma was the most commonly studied, accounting for 20.9% of the total number of publications. Notably, the amount of rhinitis/rhinosinusitis research has risen steeply in 2013. Qualitative analyses also indicated continuous progress; the median impact factor of published journals increased from 1.918 in 2009 to 2.746 in 2013, yielding an annual increase rate of 7.4%. In conclusion, the present analyses identified a continuous increase in the research performance of Korean allergists over a recent 5 year period (2009-2013), both quantitatively and qualitatively. A more significant contribution is expected in the forthcoming era.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Mi
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Jee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong In
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeon Jong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Seo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Childhood Asthma Atopy Center, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jinho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Heon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Bum
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Youp
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kapsok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. cwkim1805@inha.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Cheol Woo
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Allergy; Korea; asthma; bibliometrics