IACC/OARC Autism Spectrum Disorder Publications Analysis: The Global Landscape of Autism Research, July 2012
Skip Over Navigation Links Skip Over Navigation Links
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Trends in Autism Research Topics and Publications
- What research themes are prominent in autism publications?
- How were 2010 publications distributed across IACC Strategic Plan Critical Question areas?
- How much has autism research grown?
- Which Critical Question research areas are showing the strongest growth?
- Main findings from analysis of trends in autism research topics and publications
- Spotlight On Risk Factor Research
- Spotlight On Treatments And Interventions Research
- Chapter Two: Impact and Maturity Of The Autism Research Field
- Chapter Three: Global Autism Research Funders
- Chapter Four: Global Autism Publications and Collaborations
- Conclusion
- References
- Footnotes
- Appendices
- Appendix I: Methodology for Identifying ASD-Related Research Publications and Supplemental Primary Research Publication Counts
- Appendix II: Automated Categorization of ASD Publications (1980-2009)
- Appendix III: Web of Science® Journal Subject Categories
- Appendix IV: Web of Science® Citation Data
- Appendix V: Full Funder List for 2010 ASD Publications
- Appendix VI: Country Co-Authorship Pairs in 2010 ASD Publications
- Appendix VII: 2010 ASD Publication Counts by Country
- Appendix VIII: Methodology for Calculating World Share of Autism Research Publications
- List of Figures
- Figure 1. The Seven IACC Strategic Plan Critical Questions and Corresponding Research Areas
- Figure 2. Autism Research Pipeline
- Figure 3. Research Methods Used in the ASD Research Publications Analysis
- Figure 4. Main Questions Addressed in the ASD Research Publications Analysis Report
- Figure 5. Autism Publications Word Cloud
- Figure 6. Distribution of 2010 Primary Research Publications within the Seven Critical Question Areas of the IACC Strategic Plan
- Figure 7. Growth in ASD-Related Publications, 1980 to 2010
- Figure 8. Growth in ASD Research Publications by Critical Question Area within the IACC Strategic Plan, 1981 to 2010
- Figure 9. Number and Fold Growth of ASD Publications from 2000 to 2010
- Figure 10. Publication Output and Trends in Subcategories of Autism Risk Factor Research
- Figure 11. Publication Output and Trends in Subcategories of Autism Treatments and Interventions Research
- Figure 12. Autism Research Citation Rate from 1980 to 2009
- Figure 13. Impact of Autism Publications Compared to Average Citation Rates in Related Publications, 1995 to 2009
- Figure 14. Proportion of Highly Cited Autism Publications from 1995 to 2009
- Figure 15. Types of US and non-US Funders Acknowledged in 2010 Autism Publications
- Figure 16. Overlap Between Different Types of Funders Acknowledged in 2010 Autism Publications
- Figure 17. Patterns of Strategic Research Emphasis by Type of Funder in 2010 Autism Publications
- Figure 18. Extent of Global Autism Research and International Collaborations in 2010
- Figure 19. Global Growth in Autism Publications by Country, 1980 to 2010
- Figure 20. Author Countries for ASD-Related Publications as a Share of the World Total, 1980 to 2010
- Figure 21. International Autism Publication Collaboration Networks in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010
- Figure 22. Extent of International Collaboration in Autism Research, 1980 to 2010
- Figure 23. Impact of Collaborative International Autism Publications, 1995 to 2009
- Figure 24. Impact of Collaborative Publications with Authors from Multiple Institutions, 2000 to 2010
- Figure 25. State by State Number of US Autism Publications in 2010
- Figure 26. Extent of Institutional and International Collaboration in US Autism Research, 1980 to 2010
- Figure A-27. Growth in ASD Primary Research Publications by Critical Question Area, 1981 to 2010
- Figure A-28. Number and Fold Growth of ASD Primary Research Publications from 2000 to 2010
- Figure A-29. Primary Research Publication Output and Trends in Subcategories of Autism Risk Factor Research
- Figure A-30. Primary Research Publication Output and Trends in Subcategories of Autism Treatments and Interventions Research
- List of Tables
- Table 1. 2010 Funders Acknowledged on 10 or More Publications
- Table 2. Top 25 Countries Publishing Autism Research in 2010
- Table 3. Top 25 Institutions Publishing Autism Research Globally in 2010
- Table A-4. Web of Science® and MEDLINE Article Types Classified as Secondary Articles
- Table A-5. Journals in which All Publications Were Classified as Secondary Research
- Table A-6. Comparison Group: Journal Subject Categories Comprising 75% of ASD Publications Since 1980
Appendix VIII: Methodology for Calculating World Share of Autism Research Publications
Publications are counted on a "whole-count basis," where each collaborating country on a given publication was credited one count. For example, if there are three authors listed on a publication, two from the US and one from UK, the publication would be counted twice, once for the US and once for the UK. To determine the country's annual share, each country's count is divided by the total number of publications in that year. This method shows the full contribution of each country without penalizing for international collaboration.
An alternative method is the fractional approach, where each participating country receives a fraction of the count. Using this approach would be appropriate for other types of analyses in which the purpose is to highlight countries that publish singly versus those that publish mainly as a result of international collaborations. A fractional approach would show a lower volume for countries that publish only collaboratively and would not accurately reflect the total number of publications from each country as intended in the current analysis. In 2010, approximately 20% of ASD research articles result from international collaborations, and the whole count methodology works well for the ASD field at its current stage, but in the future, if the field becomes increasingly collaborative across international borders, the fractional count method may be more useful.
Copyright Information
All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced, copied, or used in presentations and publications. A suggested citation follows.
Suggested Citation
Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC), National Institute of Mental Health and Thomson Reuters, Inc. on behalf of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). IACC/OARC Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Publications Analysis Report: The Global Landscape of Autism Research. July 2012. Retrieved from the Department of Health and Human Services Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee website: http://iacc.hhs.gov/publications-analysis/july2012/index.shtml