Papers published from 1995 to 2012 by six Traditional Chinese Medicine universities in China: a bibliometric analysis based on science citation index

Objective The quality and quantity of published research papers are important in both scientific and technology fields. Although there are several bibliometric studies based on citation analysis, very few have focused on research related to Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. Methods The bibliometric method used in this study included the following focuses: publication outputs for each year, paper type, language of publication, distribution of internationally collaborative countries, sources of funding, authorization number, distribution of institutes regarding collaborative publications, research fields, distribution of outputs in journals, citation data, and h-index. Results A total of 3809 papers published from 1995 to 2012 were extracted from the science citation index (SCI). The cumulative number of papers from all six universities is constantly increasing. The United States attained the dominant position regarding complementary and alternative medicine research. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the greatest participator in collaborative efforts. Research field analysis showed that the research mainly focused on pharmacology pharmacy, chemistry, integrative complementary medicine, plant sciences, and biochemistry molecular biology. The Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine had the most citations. Conclusion In recent years, in terms of SCI papers, the six Traditional Chinese Medicine universities studied here have made great advances in scientific research.