A Comparative Study of Scientific Publications in Health Care Sciences and Services from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and India (2007–2014)

In this study, we aimed to compare the quantity and quality of publications in health care sciences and services journals from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Japan, and India. Journals in this category of the Science Citation Index Expanded were included in the study. Scientific papers were retrieved from the Web of Science online database. Quality was measured according to impact factor, citation of articles, number of articles published in top 10 journals, and the 10 most popular journals by country (area). In the field of health care sciences and services, the annual incremental rates of scientific articles published from 2007 to 2014 were higher than rates of published scientific articles in all fields. Researchers from the Chinese mainland published the most original articles and reviews and had the highest accumulated impact factors, highest total article citations, and highest average citation. Publications from India had the highest average impact factor. In the field of health care sciences and services, China has made remarkable progress during the past eight years in the annual number and percentage of scientific publications. Yet, there is room for improvement in the quantity and quality of such articles.