title: Analysis of scientific output by spine surgeons from Japan: January 2000 to December 2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over the last decade, the growing body of work on spine pathology has led to developments and refinements in the areas of basic science, diagnosis and treatment of a variety of spine conditions. Scientific publications have a global impact on the international scientific community as they share vital information that can be applied by physicians worldwide to solve their everyday medical problems. The historical background of scientific publication in journals in Japan on the subject of spine is unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a literature search for publications by Japanese spine surgeons regarding spine or spinal cord topics using an online database: Pubmed.gov (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/). The results were stored and analyzed at the Laboratory of Clinical Studies and Basic Models of Spinal Disorders of the University of Caxias do Sul. Results were limited to articles published from January 2000 to December 2013. The search terms used were "Japan" AND ("spine" OR "spinal diseases" OR "spinal cord" OR "spinal cord diseases" OR "vertebroplasty" OR "arthrodesis" OR "discectomy" OR "foraminotomy" OR "laminectomy" OR "denervation" OR "back injuries"). Japanese spine surgeons were defined as spine surgeons from orthopedic or neurosurgical specialties where the publication was affiliated with Japanese services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 16,140 articles were identified by the Medline search. Most of the articles were excluded based on information provided in the title and abstract as they were not related to spine surgery. This study comprised 1768 articles published in the Medline database by Japanese spine surgeons from 2000 to 2013. The number of publications rose in a linear fashion, with the number of papers published increasing by 5.4 per year (p = 0.038). In recent years the publications were increasingly performed in conjunction with the neurosurgery and orthopedics specialties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed a clear increase in publications (on Medline) by Japanese spine surgeons over the last 14 years. While this is a positive development, there is also cause for concern as there is some evidence that the number of young scientists is declining in Japan. Special attention to educating researchers and improving resources for research is crucial to further increase the number and quality of Japanese publications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan. Electronic address: zenji@med.u-toyama.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Clinical Studies and Basic Models of Spinal Disorders, Argentina.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guarise da Silva
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Clinical Studies and Basic Models of Spinal Disorders, Argentina.
authors.forename: Francine Wurzius
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Quadros
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Clinical Studies and Basic Models of Spinal Disorders, Argentina.
authors.forename: Luiz Henrique
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Merlin
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Clinical Studies and Basic Models of Spinal Disorders, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Radaelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Juan Pablo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Guyot
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dozza
authors.affiliation: Federal University of São Paulo, Medicine School Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Délio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Hospital Dr. Diego E. Thompson, General San Martin, Argentina.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scheverin
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Orthopedics, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Riew
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoatsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Asdrubal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falavigna
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D009493:Neurosurgery; D009985:Orthopedics; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000601:surgery*; D013131:Spine / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors