Neurosurgical research in Southeast Asia: A bibliometric analysis.

• The number of publications by researchers affiliated with neurosurgical centers in Southeast Asia showed an increasing trend up to 2019. • A country's percentage of the GDP allocated to research and development was positively correlated with the number of publications, total citations, h-index, and i(10)-index. • A country's number of collaborations with non-SEA researchers also positively correlated with the same indices. Bibliometric analysis can provide insight into the growth, development and dissemination of research in neurosurgery. Little work has been done to examine the role of country-specific characteristics affecting research productivity. We aimed to characterize and compare the research productivity among SEA countries in terms of bibliometric indices and determine associations with country-specific factors. We performed a systematic search of all articles by authors affiliated with a neurosurgical department in any of the Southeast Asian countries, indexed in 3 databases from inception to June 10, 2020. Bibliometric indices – number of publications, number of citations, average citations per publication, h-index, and the i-10-index – were computed for each country. Correlations between the indices and country-specific characteristics (population size, GDP per capita, percentage of GDP allocation to research and development (R&D), number of neurosurgeons, number of neurosurgeons per capita, and number of collaborations with non-SEA authors) were determined. The number of publications showed an increasing trend up to 2019. Most studies were cohort studies (37%) or case reports or series (37%). Of the country-specific factors analyzed, only percentage of the GDP allocated to R&D was positively correlated with number of publications (p = 0.0004), total citations (p < 0.0001), H-index (p < 0.0001), and i(10)-index (p < 0.0001). Number of collaborations also positively correlated with the same indices. Our bibliometric analysis showed increasing contribution by neurosurgeons in the SEA region. Correlational analysis support the view that increased R&D budget allocation and international collaboration can improve neurosurgical research capacity and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]