Mapping interdisciplinary fields: efficiencies, gaps and redundancies in HIV/AIDS research.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Adams J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4266665 | biostudies-literature | 2014
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Mapping interdisciplinary fields: efficiencies, gaps and redundancies in HIV/AIDS research.
PloS one 20141215 12
While interdisciplinarity continues to increase in popularity among funders and other scientific organizations, its potential to promote scientific advances remains under-examined. For HIV/AIDS research, we examine the dynamics of disciplinary integration (or lack thereof) providing insight into a field's knowledge base and those questions that remain unresolved. Drawing on the complete histories of two interdisciplinary journals, we construct bibliographic coupling networks based on overlapping ...[more]
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Project description:In this paper, we have identified and analyzed the emergence, structure and dynamics of the paradigmatic research fronts that established the fundamentals of the biomedical knowledge on HIV/AIDS. A search of papers with the identifiers "HIV/AIDS", "Human Immunodeficiency Virus", "HIV-1" and "Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome" in the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), was carried out. A citation network of those papers was constructed. Then, a sub-network of the papers with the highest number of inter-citations (with a minimal in-degree of 28) was selected to perform a combination of network clustering and text mining to identify the paradigmatic research fronts and analyze their dynamics. Thirteen research fronts were identified in this sub-network. The biggest and oldest front is related to the clinical knowledge on the disease in the patient. Nine of the fronts are related to the study of specific molecular structures and mechanisms and two of these fronts are related to the development of drugs. The rest of the fronts are related to the study of the disease at the cellular level. Interestingly, the emergence of these fronts occurred in successive "waves" over the time which suggest a transition in the paradigmatic focus. The emergence and evolution of the biomedical fronts in HIV/AIDS research is explained not just by the partition of the problem in elements and interactions leading to increasingly specialized communities, but also by changes in the technological context of this health problem and the dramatic changes in the epidemiological reality of HIV/AIDS that occurred between 1993 and 1995.
| S-EPMC5444800 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background & aimsPediatric feeding disorder (PFD) is defined as impaired oral intake that is not age-appropriate, and is associated with medical, nutritional, feeding skill, and/or psychosocial dysfunction. As PFD is prevalent and increasing, so are publications on the topic; however, the research literature is often disparate in terminology used and siloed by discipline. Greater understanding of the current research concerning PFD will help identify areas in need of further study. The purpose of this scoping review is to examine the extent, range, and nature of research activities concerning PFD and to identify gaps in the empirical literature.MethodsThree electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO) were searched using terms related to pediatric feeding disorder, which include, but not limited to, "feeding disorder/problem/difficulty", "avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)", "dysphagia", "selective/picky eating", "problematic mealtime behaviors" or "food refusal". The following limits were placed on the search: full text, humans, English, and age limit (up to 18 years old), and publication date (last 10 years). Covidence software was used to facilitate a systematic data management/analysis. Two people in the research team independently reviewed each result (screening titles and abstracts first, then moving to the full texts) to identify studies that met our inclusion/exclusion criteria and conflicts were resolved through a team discussion. Data were charted regarding disciplines of the authors, study purposes, study settings/locations, study methodologies, and study participants. Descriptive statistics and thematic analyses were used to summarize the characteristics of the studies.ResultsThe initial search resulted in 5354 articles after removing duplicates between the databases. With a final set of articles (n = 415), data charting was completed. The majority of studies were completed by authors from Psychology (n = 171) and Medicine (n = 123). The most studied aims were to examine attributes of feeding problems (n = 168) and/or factors associated with feeding problems (n = 183). Sample size median was 53. A total of 166 of the 415 studies examined the effect of an intervention, treatment, or program, but dose of the intervention was difficult or impossible to report across studies. Feeding was studied as an outcome in 400 out of the 415 studies. A closer accounting of the systematically developed parent-report tools revealed 50 distinct parent report tools used across the subset of studies utilizing parent report outcomes (n = 123).ConclusionsThe results of this scoping review highlight the designs and methods used in research on PFD. This reveals critical gaps in knowledge generation and barriers to intervention replication.
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| S-EPMC5475311 | biostudies-literature
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Project description:BACKGROUND:"Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)" and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are global health burden. Medication adherence in people living with HIV (PLWH) is a key element in reducing morbidity and mortality. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of research activity helps identify research gaps as well as efforts implemented to improve adherence behaviors in PLWH. The aim of the current study was to assess and analyze literature on HIV/AIDS-related medication adherence using bibliometric methods. METHODS:SciVerse Scopus was used to accomplish the purpose of the current study. The study period included all times up to 2017. The analysis was restricted to documents published in academic journals. RESULTS:Search strategy retrieved 3021 documents with an average of 32.5 citations per document, an h-index of 136, and an average of 4.4 authors per documents. The volume of literature on HIV/AIDS-related medication adherence constituted 1.3% of the overall HIV/AIDS literature. There was a significant (p?<?0.01; r?=?0.9) correlation between the growth of publications in AIDS-related stigma and medication adherence. The regions of America (567.9) had the highest research output per one million infected people (567.9) followed by the European region (314.3), Western Pacific Region (70.7), Eastern Mediterranean region (31.4), South East Asia (34.0), and Africa (19.3). Geographical distribution of publications showed an active contribution of certain countries in the Southern and Eastern region of Sub-Saharan Africa. Harvard University (8.4%; n?=?254) was the most active institution. The top cited documents focused on the impact of adherence on disease outcome and the impact of text messages on improving medication adherence. CONCLUSION:Research on medication adherence in PLWH showed regional variations. International research collaboration with high burden regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa needs to be strengthened to achieve the global target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
| S-EPMC6180611 | biostudies-literature