Geographical distribution of publications in Human Reproduction and Fertility and Sterility in the 1990s

Curious about the geographical distribution of publications in reproductive medicine, we compared the numbers of publications in Human Reproduction (H R) and Fertility and Sterility (F&S). The annual number of publications fro m the individual countries was obtained by searching the Medline database u sing the internet provider PubMed, The data were analysed and normalized to population size, gross domestic product (GDP) and total number of Medline publications. The 8511 publications of both journals in the 1990s came from 56 countries, The number of publications per year was increasing in HR and remained constant in F&S, In absolute numbers, the UK produced the most pu blications in HR (21%) and the USA in F&S (45%) as well as in both journals together (28%), Relatively, Israel was the most productive country per mil lion inhabitants (8.4 +/- 2.1 publications/year), per billion US dollars GD P (0.85 +/- 0.21 publications/year) and per 1000 Medline publications (15 /- 4 publications/year). Europe was the most productive world region in abs olute numbers (54%) and Australia/New Zealand in relative numbers per milli on inhabitants and per 1000 billion US dollars GDP. Almost 87% of all publi cations in HR and F&S came from the 18 countries with a GDP per capita of > 10 000 US dollars. In conclusion, the geographical distribution of publicat ions in HR and F&S follows the pattern of the distribution of publications in general biomedical research. Most publications come from affluent countr ies. Although the USA and the UK appear to be the most productive countries in absolute numbers, smaller affluent countries like Israel and Belgium ar e more productive when the numbers are normalized to population or GDP.