Scientific publications in laboratory medicine from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: A ten-year survey of the literature

BackgroundWe investigated scientific publications in laboratory medicine originating from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan over the past 10 years.MethodsThe information about articles published in the included journals were determined by computer-searching on PubMed and data were extracted independently and analyzed in relation to the number of articles.ResultsFrom 2000 to 2009 there were 1166 articles published in laboratory medicine journals from the major Chinese regions (mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). This exceeded Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France from 2005 onwards. Also, the number of articles from mainland China exceeded those from Hong Kong and Taiwan from 2004 onwards. The average impact factor (IF) from Hong Kong ranked the first, followed by mainland China, and then Taiwan. Clinica Chimica Acta seems to be the most popular laboratory medicine journal among Chinese authors.ConclusionOver the past 10 years, Chinese authors have been more and more active in the field of laboratory medicine. Mainland China seems to have caught up to Hong Kong and Taiwan regarding publication of papers in this field.