Publication Output and Growth of Korean Medical Papers Published in Science Citation Index Journals During the 1980s: A Comparison with SCI Korean Chemistry Papers

Abstract

The number of papers published in Science Citation Indexi SCI) medical journals between 1980 and 1989 by authors at Korean institutions are measured for each of 47 medical specialties by publication year. Publication output of Korean chemistry, a scientific field which produces the Bulletin of the Korean Chemical society (BKCS), the only Korean SCI journal indexed during the 198Os, is also measured. A total of I, 236 mainstream medical papers (Le., an average of two or three papers a year for each medical specialty) were published during the ten-year study period. The overall mainstream publication activity of Korean medicine was insignificant, yet it has improved over the years. The growth was slow in the first half of the 198Os, then since around 1986, there has been a big increase in the growth rate. In total I, 629 chemistry papers were published during the 198Os. If the BKCS papers are excluded, 738 papers were published in the SCI non-Korean chemistry journals. Inclusion of a Korean journal into the SCI database more than doubles the mainstream output of Korean chemistry, and increased the total mainstream output of Korean sciences at least by 10%. Among all SCI Korean papers, medical papers comprise 17.5%, and chemistry, 23.1%(or 10.5% if the BKCS papers are excluded). Only 2.4% of all Korean medical papers published during the 19805 are SCI papers, whereas 66.1%(or 30.0% if the BKCS papers are excluded) of chemistry papers are SCI papers. Chemistry papers have continuously increased over the years at a constant rate much hiqher] 24.7 times in 10 years, or 11.2 times if the BKCS papers are excluded) than that of medicine] 6.9 times) and that of all sciences combined (9.0 times).