• Shadan Almuhaidib, Rawan Alqahtani, Haifa F Alotaibi, Asma Saeed, Sahar Alnasrallah, Fayez Alshamsi, Saleh A Alqahtani, and Waleed Alhazzani.
• From the Scientific Research Center (Almuhaidib, Alotaibi, Saeed, Alnasrallah, Alhazzani), Ministry of Defense Health Services, from the Department of Business Intelligence and Information Management (Alqahtani), Rumah General Hospital, Riyadh Second Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, from the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence (Alqahtani), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, from the Department of Critical Care (Alhazzani), College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alshamsi), College of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Alqahtani), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America, and from the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (Alhazzani), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
• Saudi Med J. 2024 Apr 1; 45 (4): 387396387-396.

ObjectivesTo describe the productivity, performance, and impact of medical research in the Arab world countries.MethodsWe carried out a bibliometric analysis using Clarivate Analytics databases from January 2017 to March 2023. We reported research productivity, national and international research collaboration patterns, impact of Arab medical research output compared to the global average, top medical journals publishing Arab-affiliated research, and performance of the most productive Arab institutions.ResultsThe Arab world contributed 2.72% to global medical research publication, with a citation impact of 11.98 compared to the global impact of 12.02. Qatar, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia led medical research publications per million population among Arab countries, ranking 26th, 36th, and 37th globally. Medical research publications increased by 87% annually from 2017-2022, with 70% of research originating from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. National collaborations accounted for 15% of Arab world publications, while international collaborations represented 66%. The median impact factor across the top 20 medical journals with Arab-affiliated authors was 5.14, with 50% being quartile one journals. The top 10 Arab-origin medical journals had a median impact factor of 3.13. Approximately 80% of the top 20 Arab institutions were academic, with a median publication count of 3,162.5 and a median citation impact of 14.5.ConclusionThe study provides insights into the state of medical research in the Arab countries, indicating room for improvement in the region's medical research.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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