Abstract
BackgroundDigital health has become an advancing phenomenon in the health care systems of modern societies. Over the past two decades, various digital health options, technologies, and innovations have been introduced; many of them are still being investigated and evaluated by researchers all around the globe. However, the actual trends and visibility of peer-reviewed publications using “digital health” as a keyword to reflect the topic, published by major relevant journals, still remain to be quantified.ObjectiveThis study aimed to conduct a bibliographic-bibliometric analysis on articles published in JMIR Publications journals that used “digital health” as a keyword. We evaluated the trends, topics, and citations of these research publications to identify the important share and contribution of JMIR Publications journals in publishing articles on digital health.MethodsAll JMIR Publications journals were searched to find articles in English, published between January 2000 and August 2019, in which the authors focused on, utilized, or discussed digital health in their study and used “digital health” as a keyword. In addition, a bibliographic-bibliometric analysis was conducted using the freely available Profiles Research Networking Software by the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center.ResultsOut of 1797 articles having “digital health” as a keyword, published mostly between 2016 and 2019, 277 articles (32.3%) were published by JMIR Publications journals, mainly in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The most frequently used keyword for the topic was “mHealth.” The average number of times an article had been cited, including self-citations, was above 2.8.ConclusionsThe reflection of “digital health” as a keyword in JMIR Publications journals has increased noticeably over the past few years. To maintain this momentum, more regular bibliographic and bibliometric analyses will be needed. This would encourage authors to consider publishing their articles in relevant, high-visibility journals and help these journals expand their supportive publication policies and become more inclusive of digital health.
Highlights
BackgroundDigital health has become an advancing phenomenon in the health care systems of modern societies [1]
With August 31, 2019 as the last publication date, we found 1797 articles indexed in PubMed, with “digital health” being assigned as one of the keywords in their metadata
In the same time frame, JMIR Publications had 7556 articles indexed in PubMed, mainly in the Journal of Medical Internet Research and its sister journals
Summary
BackgroundDigital health has become an advancing phenomenon in the health care systems of modern societies [1]. The US Food and Drug Administration defines “digital health” as “a broad scope which includes mobile health (mHealth), health information technology, wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalized medicine” [2] Of note, it is the increasing adoption of “digital health” as a specific keyword, which has shown itself in the utilization of the term by international organizations, such as the World Health Organization [3,4]. Many academics and researchers are increasingly being involved in doing research on, utilizing, evaluating, or taking advantage of the benefits of digital health and its various related technologies for their studies on individuals, populations, or health organizations This increasing involvement has reflected itself in the utilization of “digital health” as a keyword in published peer-reviewed literature. Conclusions: The reflection of “digital health” as a keyword in JMIR Publications journals has increased noticeably over the past few years To maintain this momentum, more regular bibliographic and bibliometric analyses will be needed. This would encourage authors to consider publishing their articles in relevant, high-visibility journals and help these journals expand their supportive publication policies and become more inclusive of digital health
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