Dermatology publications from Iran in MEDLINE: A comparison between 2004 and 2014

Background: Iran has achieved rapid scientific growth in the past two decades. Considerable growth in scientific publications by Iranian dermatologists matches the pace of Iran’s scientific publications in the previous decade. In this study, we aim to identify the current trends in Iranian dermatology publications and authorship over the past decade. Methods: We compared papers indexed in the MEDLINE database at two time points, 2004 and 2014, using the PubMed Search engine. Results: We found 145 dermatology papers from Iran in 2014 compared to 31 papers in 2004, with an annual growth rate of 36.8%. There was a highly significant increase in the mean number of authors per article from 3.1 to 5.02 (P<0.001), with a significant decrease in the number of single-author papers. A significant decrease existed in the number of male first authors (83.9% to 63.4%; P=0.03). The number of papers published in specialized dermatology journals significantly decreased in 2014 from 80.6% to 42.1% (P<0.001), with 41.4% of the total papers published in Iranian journals. The mean impact factor (IF) per paper dropped from 2.01 to 1.75. Conclusion: The number of international publications by the Iranian dermatologist has proliferated during the past decade. Encouragement of international collaborations, production of high-quality and novel research, improvements to the standards and visibility of national journals, and higher adherence to authorship and publication ethics are essential perquisites for a more productive future for dermatology research in Iran.