bioRxiv
December 7, 2020 DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.06.413682
Abstract
An examination is presented of scientific research publication trends during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. After reviewing the timing of the emergence of the pandemic in 2020 and the growth of governmental responses, available secondary and sources are used to highlight impacts of COVID-19 on scientific research. A bibliometric analysis is then undertaken to analyze developments in COVID-19 related scientific publications through to October of 2020 by broad trends, fields, countries, and organizations. Two publication data sources are used: PubMed and the Web of Science. While there has been a massive absolute increase in PubMed and Web of Science papers directly focused on COVID-19 topics, especially in medical, biological science, and public health fields, this is still a relatively small proportion of publication outputs across all fields of science.
Source: 10.1101/2020.12.06.413682
Using Web of Science publication data, the paper examines the extent to which researchers across all fields of science have pivoted their research outputs to focus on topics related to COVID-19. A COVID-19 research pivot is defined as the extent to which the proportion of output in a particular research field has shifted to a focus on COVID-19 topics in 2020 (to date) compared with 2019. Significant variations are found by specific fields (identified by Web of Science Subject Categories). In a top quintile of fields, not only in medical specialties, biomedical sciences, and public health but also in subjects in social sciences and arts and humanities, there are relatively high to medium research pivots. In lower quintiles, including other subjects in science, social science, and arts and humanities, low to zero COVID-19 research pivoting is identified.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.
From the Houston Chronicle: Politically and socially conservative, Texas is a national leader in school book challenges and bans; a Chronicle investigation last summer counted more than 2,000 content reviews of challenged school library ...
From CT Insider: A bill that would end many of the contract restrictions won unanimous approval last week in the legislative Planning and Development Committee, following recent public hearings that brought ...
From the National Geographic Society: Today, the National Geographic Society launched the World Water Map as part of its five-year World Freshwater Initiative to better understand developing freshwater shortages around the world ...
AI Makes Plagiarism Harder to Detect, Argue Academics – in Paper Written by Chatbot (via The Guardian) Bing Image Creator Comes to the New Bing (via Microsoft) Censorship or Evolution? ...
UPDATE Hachette v. Internet Archive Statements, Materials, and Media Reports Re: March 20, 2023 Oral Arguments (Last Updated: 10:00am, March 21, 2023; We Expect Additional Updates) Media Reports A Skeptical ...
The article linked below was published today by Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL). Title Services to Mobile Users: The Best Practice from the Top-Visited Public Libraries in the US Authors ...
From EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations): This Handbook overhauls current stereotypes about e-lending. The studies and investigations quoted in the Handbook demonstrate that e-lending in libraries ...
Changes Will Come to the State Library of Iowa Under the Reorganization Bill (via Iowa Public Radio) IMLS Welcomes 7 New Members to the National Museum and Library Services Board ...
The article linked below (preprint) was recently shared on arXiv. Title A Global Exploratory Comparison of Country Self-Citations 1996-2019 Authors Alberto Baccini University of Siena, Italy Eugenio Petrovich University of ...
From Nikkei Asia: Shared bookstores, where each shelf is operated by a different owner, are cropping up in Japan’s big cities, allowing book lovers to find new books and interact with ...
Arizona: How the Pima County Library Created a Safe Space for This Librarian (via Arizona Daily Star) ChatGPT Sends Shockwaves Across College Campuses (via the Hill) Connecticut: A CT Leader’s ...
From the American Library Association (ALA): The Committee on Accreditation (CoA) of the American Library Association (ALA) announces release of a proposed revision of the Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in ...
