Abstract
BackgroundBuilding research capacity in Indigenous health has been recognised as integral in efforts to reduce the significant health disparities between Indigenous and other Australian populations. The past few decades have seen substantial changes in funding policy for Australian Indigenous health research, including increases in overall expenditure and a greater focus on collaborative and priority-driven research. However, whether these policy shifts have resulted in any change to the structure of the research workforce in this field is unclear. We examine research publications in Australian Indigenous health from 1995–2008 to explore trends in publication output, key themes investigated, and research collaborations.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was undertaken to identify research publications about Australian Indigenous health from 1995–2008. s of all publications identified were reviewed by two investigators for relevance. Eligible publications were classified according to key themes. Social network analyses of co-authorship patterns were used to examine collaboration in the periods 1995–1999, 2000–2004 and 2005–2008.ResultsNine hundred and fifty three publications were identified. Over time, the number of publications per year increased, particularly after 2005, and there was a substantial increase in assessment of health service-related issues. Network analyses revealed a highly collaborative core group of authors responsible for the majority of outputs, in addition to a series of smaller separate groups. In the first two periods there was a small increase in the overall network size (from n = 583 to n = 642 authors) due to growth in collaborations around the core. In the last period, the network size increased considerably (n = 1,083), largely due to an increase in the number and size of separate groups. The general size of collaborations also increased in this period.ConclusionsIn the past few decades there has been substantial development of the research workforce in Indigenous health, characterised by an increase in authors and outputs, a greater focus on some identified priority areas and sustained growth in collaborations. This has occurred in conjunction with significant changes to funding policy for Indigenous health research, suggesting that both productivity and collaboration may be sensitive to reform, including the provision of dedicated funding.
Highlights
Building research capacity in Indigenous health has been recognised as integral in efforts to reduce the significant health disparities between Indigenous and other Australian populations
In conjunction with a reform agenda that supports greater Indigenous leadership of research, there has been a substantial change to funding policy in this area by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
The two journals contributing the most articles to the network were the Medical Journal of Australia and the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, with over a quarter of all publications occurring in these two journals combined
Summary
Building research capacity in Indigenous health has been recognised as integral in efforts to reduce the significant health disparities between Indigenous and other Australian populations. Increasing representation of Indigenous peoples across NHMRC committees, a commitment to expend at least 5 % of the annual budget on Indigenous health, and development and endorsement of “The NHMRC Road Map: A Strategic Framework for Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health through Research” [9] are some of the key strategies undertaken to achieve change [10]. These important policy developments have underscored the need to build research capacity in Indigenous health, which includes developing the research workforce (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers). We describe trends in research collaborations over this period by undertaking a network analysis of co-authorship patterns
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