Research output in orthopaedics and sports medicine from Nigeria and Africa – A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Background: Nigeria has a relatively large scientific community that produces an adequate research output among
African countries. Not many studies have analysed the research output in orthopaedics and sports medicine from
Nigeria and Africa. Hence, we aimed to analyze the research output in orthopaedics and sports medicine from
Nigeria and Africa.
Methodology: We used the SCOPUS data from the Scimago Journal & Country Rank website. It allows us to draw
various journal metrics for research.
Results: Between 1996 and 2022, Nigerian research publications in orthopaedics and sports medicine had grown
from 4 in 1996 to 39 in 2022 (a 10-fold growth) but overall is 62nd in the world representing 0.07% of publications
in the period. In the same period, Africa published 8297 papers in orthopaedics and sports medicine representing
only 1.24% of the global publications in this field.
Conclusion: There is low research output in Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine from Nigeria and, the whole
African continent. However, there has been a growth in the publications from Africa.