The Trend of Pharmaceutical Research in Iran Compared to Middle East and North Africa: A Scientometrics Study

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Iranian trend of research in pharmaceutical sciences published in international publication and to compare it with that in other countries in the Middle East and North Africa in 1996-2006 through scientometrics methods. Methods: In this ecological study, the data were extracted from ISI: Web of Science, Scopus and International Pharmaceutical Abstract (IPA) databases. The indexed documents of authors from Iran as well as 13 other regional and North African countries in mentioned databases in the fields relevant to pharmaceutical sciences including pharmacy, pharmacology, toxicology and medicinal chemistry in the last 11 years (1996-2006) were retrieved and quantitatively analyzed. Results: Analysis of indexed pharmaceutical documents from the Middle East and North African countries (1996-2006) showed that Iran ranks second in the ISI/WOS, Scopus and IPA. However, Iran has achieved the first rank in the WOS and Scopus in the years 2004-2006 and in IPA in the last two years (2005-2006). Ranking of normalized indexed pharmaceutical documents based on GDP and population showed Iran fell to the forth rank in Scopus and IPA and the fifth in WOS. Conclusion: Iran has managed to stand on the first place of science production within the field of pharmaceutical sciences among Middle East and North Africa in the last 11 years. Maintenance of the acquired rank requires planning and paying enough attention to utilization of research potentials of universities and research centers within the field of pharmaceutical sciences and the interdisciplinary sciences. Keywords: Pharmacy; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; Pharmacology; Databases.