the prevalence of obesity continues to rise worldwide with an alarming priority in developed and developing countries .
researchers , practitioners , and policy - makers call for updated valid evidences to monitor , prevent , and control of obesity
. this information , mostly , provide through the publication and distribution of research results .
most of the times , quality of health services affected by the application of updated results of scientific productions .
aim to monitoring and assessment of scientific trends , scientometrics provides reliable , practical methods that measure , evaluate and analyze scientific products of specific fields . in these regards , using qualitative , quantitative and computational approaches , different indicators are increasingly employed to show the pattern of research performed by researchers , universities , institutes , and countries .
one of its main indices is the number of published articles or science production in a specific field of sciences . in addition , citations of papers is another index that mostly is used as a proxy of application of papers .
the collaboration in research conduct and papers publication and collaborative research centers consider as another citation indexes .
considering above , the aim of this paper is scientometrics analysis of obesity / overweight knowledge productions in the middle east region countries .
the trends in published papers , citations , and collaborative researches in the fields of obesity / overweight , as the proxy of knowledge production , reviewed , during the past 24-year period .
we specifically focused on iran and assessed its contribution in obesity / overweight researches by more details .
present study is scientometric analysis of obesity / overweight scientific papers among middle east countries from 1990 to 2013 . reviewing the publication number , publication trends , citations , and collaborative institutions , iran has been compared with other countries of the region and also with global indices . for its
most coverage in health and biomedicine discipline , we systematically searched scopus database . as it was the only sources for multidisciplinary citation reports , we select it as the valid source of citation reports of knowledge products .
in addition , all of the collaborative papers extracted and analyzed for middle east countries .
we also introduce top institutions , journals , and collaborative research centers in the field of obesity / overweight . using methods of reviews and considering emtree , terms of  obesity  ,  overweight  , and 
anthropometric indexes  , search strategy has designed by researchers committee and validated by external scientific group . the name of middle east countries were identified according to free encyclopedia of wikipedia including ; bahrain , cyprus , egypt , iraq , iran , israel , jordan , kuwait , lebanon , oman , palestine , qatar , saudi arabia , syria , turkey , united arab emirates , and yemen ( in alphabetical order ) .
period of study was limited to 19902013 , and there was no limitation for language .
2011 ( stata statistical software : release 12 . college station , tx : stata corp lp .
given scopus data , globally , during 19902013 , 415,126 papers have been published in the fields of obesity / overweight . from them , 136,595 were affiliated to usa , 33,927 to uk , and 20,019 to germany . during this period , 14,792 published papers were affiliated to middle east countries .
compare with other countries in the regions ; after turkey ( 7092 papers : 47.94% ) and israel ( 5214 paper : 35.25% ) , it has achieved to third position .
the time trend of obesity / overweight publication by middle east countries , 19902013 pearson chi - square test confirmed a significant time trends of published papers between region countries ( p = 0.000 ) .
table 2 shows the p - trends of total number of papers and the total number of citations , in middle east 's countries , during the 19902013 .
p - trends of total number of papers and total number of citations of middle east 's countries obesity / overweight related papers , 1990 - 2013 as it shows in table 2 , based on the pearson chi - square test results , all of region countries have significant time trends in their obesity / overweight publications citations ( p = 0.000 ) .
the comparative situations of citations time trends of obesity / overweight publications is presented in figure 2 .
the time trend of citations of obesity / overweight publication by middle east countries , 19902013 in overall , in the field of obesity / overweight , iran had the most collaborative papers respectively with usa ( 180 , 4.6% ) , uk ( 140 , 3.6% ) , and canada ( 66 , 1.7% ) .
turkey with 15 collaborative papers ( 0.4% ) had the 16 rank of this list .
usa also had the most participation in publications of all other 16 middle east countries .
the situation of contributions of middle east 's countries in obesity / overweight related papers have been shown in table 3 .
the diagonal diameter of table ( green marked number ) shows papers that there was no partnership between the countries in their publication .
for example from bahrain publications , 197 cases have been published by contribution of only internal researchers and academic members of bahrain scientific centers .
red marked zeros refer to situations in which , there were no any joint contribution for common publications between two countries that have been indicated in the top of leading rows .
contributions of middle east 's countries in obesity / overweight related papers , 1990 - 2013 in overall , in global level , most of obesity / overweight papers published in the field of medicine ( 76.7% ) , after that , the highest proportion of publications respectively , belonged to , biochemistry ( 23.3% ) , and agricultural and biological sciences ( 12% ) . in iran , publications approximately follow this distribution . considering the results , 64% of iranian papers were completely related to medicine , 11% were published in the field of biochemistry , genetics and molecular biology , and 6% were aligned to the fields of agricultural and biological sciences .
figure 3 compares the distribution of publications subject area of obesity / overweight publications at national , regional and global levels .
the distribution of subject area of obesity / overweight publication at national , regional and global levels considering the role of universities or other scientific institutes in publication of obesity / overweight papers ; the first three effective institutes with the most publications are ; va medical center , brigham and womans hospital , and inserm , respectively with 1.25% , 0.81% , and 0.78% of global participation in knowledge production .
harvard school of public health with insignificant difference is the fourth producing center of obesity publications ( 3,154 papers , 0.87% ) . in iran ,
after that , shahid beheshti university of medical sciences counterpart in 15% of knowledge productions .
the third rank belonged to isfahan university of medical sciences ( 14% contribution ) [ figure 4 ] .
contribution of national universities / scientific institutes in publication of obesity / overweight papers , 19902013 regarding the sources of publications in global level , the three first journals are ; international journal of obesity ( 5396 ; 1.30% ) , plos one ( 4280 ; 1.03% ) , and obesity surgery ( 4033 ; 0.99% ) . in iran , iranian journal of endocrinology and metabolism , journal of research in medical sciences , and archives of iranian medicine , respectively with 3.47% , 2.78% , and 2.19% of national publication contribution , were the top three sources of obesity - related publication . during this period ,
the most prevalent type of obesity - related publications was original articles that consist 90% of all knowledge products .
after these review articles ( 4% ) and letters ( 2% ) set on next levels .
given scopus data , globally , during 19902013 , 415,126 papers have been published in the fields of obesity / overweight . from them , 136,595 were affiliated to usa , 33,927 to uk , and 20,019 to germany . during this period , 14,792 published papers were affiliated to middle east countries .
compare with other countries in the regions ; after turkey ( 7092 papers : 47.94% ) and israel ( 5214 paper : 35.25% ) , it has achieved to third position .
the time trend of obesity / overweight publication by middle east countries , 19902013 pearson chi - square test confirmed a significant time trends of published papers between region countries ( p = 0.000 ) .
table 2 shows the p - trends of total number of papers and the total number of citations , in middle east 's countries , during the 19902013 .
p - trends of total number of papers and total number of citations of middle east 's countries obesity / overweight related papers , 1990 - 2013
as it shows in table 2 , based on the pearson chi - square test results , all of region countries have significant time trends in their obesity / overweight publications citations ( p = 0.000 ) .
the comparative situations of citations time trends of obesity / overweight publications is presented in figure 2 .
the time trend of citations of obesity / overweight publication by middle east countries , 19902013
in overall , in the field of obesity / overweight , iran had the most collaborative papers respectively with usa ( 180 , 4.6% ) , uk ( 140 , 3.6% ) , and canada ( 66 , 1.7% ) .
turkey with 15 collaborative papers ( 0.4% ) had the 16 rank of this list .
usa also had the most participation in publications of all other 16 middle east countries .
the situation of contributions of middle east 's countries in obesity / overweight related papers have been shown in table 3 .
the diagonal diameter of table ( green marked number ) shows papers that there was no partnership between the countries in their publication .
for example from bahrain publications , 197 cases have been published by contribution of only internal researchers and academic members of bahrain scientific centers .
red marked zeros refer to situations in which , there were no any joint contribution for common publications between two countries that have been indicated in the top of leading rows .
contributions of middle east 's countries in obesity / overweight related papers , 1990 - 2013
in overall , in global level , most of obesity / overweight papers published in the field of medicine ( 76.7% ) , after that , the highest proportion of publications respectively , belonged to , biochemistry ( 23.3% ) , and agricultural and biological sciences ( 12% ) . in iran , publications approximately follow this distribution .
considering the results , 64% of iranian papers were completely related to medicine , 11% were published in the field of biochemistry , genetics and molecular biology , and 6% were aligned to the fields of agricultural and biological sciences .
figure 3 compares the distribution of publications subject area of obesity / overweight publications at national , regional and global levels . the distribution of subject area of obesity / overweight publication at national , regional and global levels
considering the role of universities or other scientific institutes in publication of obesity / overweight papers ; the first three effective institutes with the most publications are ; va medical center , brigham and womans hospital , and inserm , respectively with 1.25% , 0.81% , and 0.78% of global participation in knowledge production .
harvard school of public health with insignificant difference is the fourth producing center of obesity publications ( 3,154 papers , 0.87% ) . in iran ,
after that , shahid beheshti university of medical sciences counterpart in 15% of knowledge productions .
the third rank belonged to isfahan university of medical sciences ( 14% contribution ) [ figure 4 ] .
contribution of national universities / scientific institutes in publication of obesity / overweight papers , 19902013 regarding the sources of publications in global level , the three first journals are ; international journal of obesity ( 5396 ; 1.30% ) , plos one ( 4280 ; 1.03% ) , and obesity surgery ( 4033 ; 0.99% ) . in iran , iranian journal of endocrinology and metabolism , journal of research in medical sciences , and archives of iranian medicine , respectively with 3.47% , 2.78% , and 2.19% of national publication contribution , were the top three sources of obesity - related publication .
during this period , the most prevalent type of obesity - related publications was original articles that consist 90% of all knowledge products . after these review articles ( 4% ) and letters ( 2% ) set on next levels .
the results of the present study verify iran 's position in obesity / overweight publications between other middle east countries. scientific evidences have emphasized that overweight and obesity become one of the most important health priority , with increasing trends , which need special attention and quick response . designing and implementation of these preventive or controlling programs require to accurate information and scientific evidences that have provided through scientific papers and reports .
,  number of citations  have become increasingly important as instruments for analyzing scientific activities and their relationship with economic and social development .
based on the iran 's 20-year national vision document , iran is pictured as the highest developed country in science / technology by 2025 . considering that ,
iran follow one of the fastest growth rates in scientific production in the whole world .
compare with other countries in the regions , after turkey and israel , respectively with 7,092 and 5,214 papers , iran has achieved to third position with 3,886 papers .
citation as one of the representative indexes for paper 's application and quality , in most of region countries , has ascending pattern . in a closer inspection ,
these recent rapid increasing trends in research outputs can be attributed to the attention to research by country policy - makers up to the highest level of leadership that has caused a national comprehensive commitment on research policy , facilities , and resources .
these collaborations , potentially , provide more facilities for increasing the citations and applications of papers .
israel between the region countries had the most citation for obesity - related papers that is directly associated with its higher rate of collaborative papers .
in this regard , after turkey , iran had the third ranks of high citation order . between out of regions countries , usa had the most participation in the publication of all 17 middle east countries . inside the region , saudi arabia and egypt with 145 collaborative papers had the first collaborative position .
in the field of obesity / overweight , iran had the most collaborative papers respectively with usa ( 4.6% ) , uk ( 3.6% ) , and canada ( 1.7% ) . between region countries ,
the increase in the number of related multidisciplinary faculties as well as research centers and consequently the increase of related specialists , students , research projects , and dissertations are inevitably positive factors which influence the rise in the number and citations of papers in this field .
first , we focused on specific obesity / overweight domain to clarify the exact situation of knowledge production .
third , we assessed collaboration between middle east countries in related research fields ; and fourth , we explain the situation of iran as one of the most effective knowledge productive country in the region in details .
to the best of our knowledge , this is the first scientometrics analyses of obesity / overweight knowledge productions in the middle east region countries that provide practical information for better research planning in related multidisciplinary fields . despite the ascending trends in research outputs , more efforts required for promotion of collaborative partnerships .
these results also could be useful for better health policy and more planned studies in this field .
 background : researchers , practitioners , and policy - makers call for updated valid evidences to monitor , prevent , and control of alarming trends of obesity . 
 we quantify the trends of obesity / overweight researches outputs of middle east countries.methods:we systematically searched scopus database as the only sources for multidisciplinary citation reports , with the most coverage in health and biomedicine disciplines for all related obesity / overweight publications , from 1990 to 2013 . 
 these scientometrics analysis assessed the trends of scientific products , citations , and collaborative papers in middle east countries . 
 we also provided information on top institutions , journals , and collaborative research centers in the field of obesity / overweight.results : over 24-year period , the number of obesity / overweight publications and related citations in middle east countries had increasing trend . 
 globally , during 19902013 , 415,126 papers have been published , from them , 3.56% were affiliated to middle east countries . 
 iran with 26.27% , compare with other countries in the regions , after turkey ( 47.94% ) and israel ( 35.25% ) , had the third position . 
 israel , turkey , and iran were leading countries in citation analysis . 
 the most collaborative country with middle east countries was usa and within the region , the most collaborative country was saudi arabia.conclusions:despite the ascending trends in research outputs , more efforts required for promotion of collaborative partnerships . 
 results could be useful for better health policy and more planned studies in this field . 
 these findings also could be used for future complementary analysis . 