Hungarian public health papers in international comparison
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Scientific publication output is a crucial indicator in health sciences, reflecting a discipline's or research group's contribution to knowledge advancement. The establishment of the Hungarian Public Health Renewal Association was based on the recognition that significant changes are needed within the national public health sector. The aim of this study is to examine whether there is a noticeable gap between Hungary and other countries in terms of public health publication performance.
METHODOLOGY: This study analyzed the number of public health publications per capita and their citation impact. Keyword searches were performed in the PubMed and Web of Science databases over the past five years, with results filtered by author affiliation to specific countries. Publication counts were normalized using population data from the World Bank. Citation impact was assessed using data from the SCImago Journal & Country Rank database, focusing on average citations per document (Cites/Doc) and the H-index for publications in the “Public, Environmental and Occupational Health” category published in 2024. Limitations include that simple publication counts do not always reflect quality, citations can be skewed by disciplinary differences or negative mentions, and database coverage varies.
RESULTS: According to both PubMed and Web of Science data, the Visegrad countries consistently ranked at the bottom among the studied nations in terms of the number of public health publications per capita over the past five years. Denmark, leading the rankings, showed more than tenfold the value compared to Hungary. In the citation rankings (based on average citations per document and H-index), Hungary also performed poorly, indicating a relatively lower international impact of Hungarian public health publications. Denmark maintained a strong position in citation metrics, while Canada led the H-index ranking.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings clearly show that the Hungarian public health sector's scientific publication performance lags behind international standards, especially compared to top countries. This low level of scientific activity and visibility is not merely an academic shortcoming, but rather, it has serious practical consequences. For example, it results in a weakened ability to provide modern, evidence-based recommendations for public policy. This may explain why the level of preventable mortality in Hungary is approximately double the EU average. A comprehensive renewal of the sector is essential. The Hungarian Public Health Renewal Association's professional concept, “Foundational Principles for Improving Health and Well-Being: A White Paper on the 21st Century Renewal of Hungarian Public Health”, proposes concrete intervention strategies for this renewal. This reform is crucial for improving the competitiveness of Hungarian public health research on the international stage and for enhancing public health indicators.
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