[A critical perspective on the global research activity in the field of bladder cancer].

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common forms of cancer world-wide. This underestimated disease can cause severe morbidity and mortality in individuals. Increasing awareness can be depicted by the increasing numbers of publications since the 1990s. Hence, it is challenging for a scientist to obtain an overview of the topic. To quantify the global research activity in this field, a scientometric investigation was conducted.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using the database Web of Science, the bibliometric data of publications on the topic of BC was acquired for the period 1900-2007. According to the NewQIS protocol, different visualization techniques and scientometric methods were applied.

RESULTS: A total of 19,651 publications were evaluated. The USA takes a leading position in terms of the overall number of publications, institutions, and collaborations. International collaboration on BC has changed considerably in terms of quantity during the past 20 years. The largest number of articles and the highest number of citations regarding BC are found in the Journal of Urology. Thus, it is considered the most prolific journal. Furthermore, the productivity (i. e., publication numbers) of authors and scientific impact (i. e., citation rates) vary greatly.

CONCLUSION: The field of BC continues to progress, whereby the influence of international co-operation on scientific progress is of increasing importance. New evaluation factors/tools have to be established for a more reliable evaluation of scientific work.