title: Diabetes Research in Iran: a Scientometric Analysis of Publications Output.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the developing countries, diabetes mellitus as a chronic diseases, have replaced infectious diseases as the main causes of morbidity and mortality. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) recently estimates 382 million people have diabetes globally and more than 34.6 million people in the Middle East Region and this number will increase to 67.9 million by 2035. The aim of this study was to analyze Iran's research performance on diabetes in national and international context.
  
  
  METHODS
  This Scientometric analysis is based on the Iranian publication data in diabetes research retrieved from the Scopus citation database till the end of 2014. The string used to retrieve the data was developed using "diabetes" keyword in title, abstract and keywords, and finally Iran in the affiliation field was our main string.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Iran's cumulative publication output in diabetes research consisted of 4425 papers from 1968 to 2014, with an average number of 96.2 papers per year and an annual average growth rate of 25.5%. Iran ranked 25th place with 4425 papers among top 25 countries with a global share of 0.72 %. Average of Iran's publication output was 6.19 citations per paper. The average citation per paper for Iranian publications in diabetes research increased from 1.63 during 1968-1999 to 10.42 for 2014.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although diabetic population of Iran is increasing, number of diabetes research is not remarkable. International Diabetes Federation suggested increased funding for research in diabetes in Iran for cost-effective diabetes prevention and treatment. In addition to universal and comprehensive services for diabetes care and treatment provided by Iranian health care system, Iranian policy makers should invest more on diabetes research.
authors.affiliation: Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasolabadi
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khaledi
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Marlin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ardalan
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Marya Maryam
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kalhor
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Penjvini
authors.affiliation: Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gharib
keywords: Bibliometrics; Diabetes Mellitus; Iran; Scopus; bibliographic database