Nepal Publications on Covid-19: A Scientometric Analysis of Research Output, 2020-2023

Abstract

The 1157 publications on Covid-19 research from Nepal were examined using various bibliometric methods and indicators. The published Nepal high-cited papers (HCPs) indexed and reported in the Scopus database was evaluated, using bibliometric methods. To visualize the collaborative interaction among leading organizations, authors, and keywords, the software’s such as MS Excel, VOSviewer and Biblioshyn were used. The Nepal 1157 Covid-19 HCPs were cited 16326 times (averaging 14.11 citations per publication). The 15.40% and 61.72% of the Nepal’s total publications indicated the participation of external funding and involvement of international collaboration. The leading organizations by publication productivity were the Tribhuvan University (n=302), Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (n=155) and B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (n=63) and the most impactful organizations in terms of citations per paper (CPP) and relative citation index (RCI) were Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital (76.54 and 5.42), Lord Buddha Educational Foundation (58.78 and 4.17) and Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu (39.44 and 2.8). The leading authors by publication productivity were K R. Sah, G.S. Shrestha and D.G. Dangal and the most impactful authors were J.M. Chatterjee (54.2 and 3.84), R. Sah (48.68 and 3.45) and B. Rayamajhee (42.14 and 2.99) in terms of CPP and RCI. Medicine, Immunology & Microbiology (9.68%) and Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology and Social Sciences (8.04% each) contributed the most publications in this area. Epidemiology and clinical studies accounted maximally (24.72% and 14.69%) and “Covid-19” (n=794), “Virus Pneumonia” (n=108), “Vaccination” (n=100) and “Prevention & Control” (n=83), were the most significant keyword appearing in the area. This study gives insight into research status of Covid-19 research in Nepal, including identifying trends, most influential contributions and performance of Nepal organizations and authors. It gives some ideas about past, present, and future hotspots in research. It provided evidence for researchers around the world to strengthen global cooperation to fight the Covid-19 epidemic

Keywords: Covid-19, Nepal high-cited papers, international collaboration, Nepal organizations