Turkey's "Genuine" Contribution to Medicine in the Current Century: Major Recent Decline

Abstract

Objective: To identify publications from Turkey with highest "genuine" contributions to the field of medicine in the past 15 years and evaluate the performance trend.Materials and Methods: Based on the data from Web of Science, publications originating from the institutions in Turkey that were received by June 2016 with >=85 citations were identified, after excluding papers having more than a minor share by international authors.Results: In total, 231 medicine-related papers were published, each receiving >=85 citations. The articles were of a citation level of top global 8-10% papers. Five-sixths of the articles were published until 2006, wherein a mean of 32 papers were generated annually. Thereafter, the number of papers declined drastically since 2010, compared with the similar performance that was anticipated. It is estimated that only a global share of 1 per mille has been generated in Turkey. Internal medicine, led by cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology, and neurosciences were better represented than the overall average. Health issues encountered more widely than those in other populations formed frequent topics of contribution. Medical faculties of Harran University, the ancient universities of three major cities, and the Military Medical Academy were front-runners. Only 36 medical faculties and 14 public and private hospitals served as sources.Conclusion: The serious decline in Turkey's contribution to the field of medicine in the past 7-10 years is deeply concerning. The general atmosphere surrounding the scientific institutions raises minimal hope for rebuilding a milieu favorable to promote research in the near future.