Abstract
Background: Despite governmental interventions, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region continues to experience higher road traffic crash and fatality rates relative to Western nations. This trend suggests a potential disconnect between Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) research and the mitigation measures put in place. Method: Here, we present an in-depth bibliometric analysis to obtain a comprehensive understanding of RTI research in the GCC region. The Web of Science database was used to search and retrieve the relevant articles during the period of 1981-2019. Results: The volume of RTI research increased from 2015-2019, suggesting an increased focus on traffic safety in the GCC region. Saudi Arabia had the highest RTI research productivity level (126 publications); Bahrain had the lowest (7 publications). Inconsistent with its low publication volume, Hammad Medical Corps of Qatar had the highest citation impact score of 16.33. Global collaboration for RTI research was highest between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The most prevalent publication journal for the region was Accident Analysis and Prevention. The most common keywords were " road traffic accidents" and " road traffic injuries"; terms such as " mobile phones", " pedestrian safety", " pedestrians", and " distracted driving" were least common. In the five most productive GCC nations with respect to RTI research (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman), researchers tended to publish works related to road traffic safety in traffic safety-oriented journals. Conclusions: The quantity and quality of RTI publications in GCC is insufficient to meet the increasing related public health and economic burden in the region. The trends among publication volumes, citations, and impact were inconsistent. There is a lack of research collaboration among the institutions. Most of the research related to RTI is being conducted by researchers with a medical background. Research focusing on pedestrians, cyclists and road user behavior is also inadequate.
Highlights
Road traffic injuries (RTI) account for 30% of all deaths worldwide and are the major cause of death among people 15–29 years old[1]
Institutional and individual authorship, bibliographic coupling and global collaboration, publication journals and publications, and keywords and associated topical trends for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region
Most Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) research publications originating in the GCC region had no more than five authors; 60 publications had a single author, 54 publications had two authors, and 74 publications had three authors
Summary
Road traffic injuries (RTI) account for 30% of all deaths worldwide and are the major cause of death among people 15–29 years old[1]. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region (Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain) experiences substantially higher road traffic crash and fatality rates relative to Western nations. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region continues to experience higher road traffic crash and fatality rates relative to Western nations. This trend suggests a potential disconnect between Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) research and the mitigation measures put in place. In the five most productive GCC nations with respect to RTI research (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman), researchers tended to publish works related to road traffic safety in traffic safety-oriented journals.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
