Medical and biomedical research productivity from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2008-2012).

Background: Biomedical publications from a country mirror the standard of Medical Education and practice in that country. It is important that the performance of the health profession is occasionally documented.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the quantity and quality of biomedical publications from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in international journals indexed in PubMed between 2008 and 2012.

Methods: PubMed was searched for publications associated with KSA from 2008 to 2012. The search was limited to medical and biomedical subjects. Results were saved in a text file and later checked carefully to exclude false positive errors. The quality of the publication was assessed using Journal Citation Report 2012.

Results: Biomedical research production in KSA in those 5 years showed a clear linear progression. Riyadh was the main hub of medical and biomedical research activity. Most of the publications (40.9%) originated from King Saud University (KSU). About half of the articles were published in journals with an Impact Factor (IF) of < 1, one-fourth in journals with no IF, and the remaining one-fourth in journals with a high IF (≥1).

Conclusions: This study revealed that research activity in KSA is increasing. However, there is an increasing trend of publishing in local journals with a low IF. More effort is required to promote medical research in Saudi Arabia.