HIV/AIDS in China:a bibliometric analysis based on Chinese Biomedical Literature Database

Objective To analyze the trends of HIV/AIDS researches in China from 1981 to 2011 using bibliometric analysis.Method A bibliometric analysis regarding China HIV/AIDS researches was conducted by using the Chinese Biomedical Literature(CBMDisc) Database for the period of 1981 to 2011.By using the noteexpress software,an attempt was made to identify the patterns of the growth in HIV/AIDS literature,as well as type of authorship,institutional affiliations of authors,foundation,documents published and subject content.Results A total of 34 529 records of articles indexed to HIV/AIDS were identified.Chinese publications on HIV/AIDS increased from five articles in 1983 to 2 796 in 2011 and early publications were mainly reviews and translations.Publications supported by special funds were increased year after year.HIV/AIDS research covered various subjects and a high proportion of co-authorship was found.Centers for disease control and prevention(CDC),universities and hospitals were the three main institutions to which the authors were affiliated.According to the analysis of subject content,HIV/AIDS research was mainly concerned with three aspects,i.e.epidemiology,treatment and laboratory testing.Conclusion HIV/AIDS research in China started quite early,and has gone through three stage:initial stage,stage of rapid development and stage of maturity.With the social development,China pays more attention to HIV/AIDS research which has reached a relatively higher level.