Research Output in Immunology Journals from Chinese Authors: 10-year Survey of Literature

Over the past decade, immunological research in China has developed rapidly. Currently, little is known about China's contribution to the immunology field. The present study was designed to study research output in immunology journals during 1999-2008 in the three different regions of China-Mainland China (ML), Hong Kong (HK) and Taiwan (TW). We also examined the research output from other top-ranking countries-the United States (USA), Japan, Germany, United Kingdom (UK) and France during 1999-2008. Articles published in 114 journals related to immunology were retrieved from the PubMed database. The number and percentage of articles in the world's output showed significantly positive trends during 1999-2008 in ML and TW, but the trend for HK was not significant. China contributed 2.7% of the total 114 journals, 0.3% of the top 10% journals with the impact factor (IF) scores. The USA contributed 32.1% of the total world's output, 47.5% of the top 10% journals with the IF scores and ranked first. Our analysis describes the research output from the three regions of China and the positive trend in China during 1999-2008. Also, by contrast with other top-ranking countries, our results imply China falls behind the ranks in conducting immunology research.