Worldwide research productivity in emergency contraception: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND: The main goal of this study was to assess worldwide research activity in emergency contraception (EC) using bibliometric indicators. METHODS: Data in SciVerse Scopus were searched for documents pertaining to emergency contraception. Data obtained were then exported to Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. RESULTS: A total of 2142 documents were published about EC worldwide. Documents were written in 27 different languages and were published from 78 countries. Publications in EC started on late 1960s. Total number of citations for published EC documents was 30154 while median citation per document was six. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 58. The leading country in EC research was United States of America with a total of 559 documents (26.10%). One hundred and ninety five (9.10%) documents were published in Contraception journal. The leading institution in EC research and publications was Princeton University (50; 2.33%) followed by University of California, San Francisco (34; 1.59%). CONCLUSIONS: The present data revealed that there is a worldwide increasing interest in EC research. Willingness of health policy makers to make EC accessible to the public will determine the future of EC research activity and future of EC as a contraceptive method.