The publishing characteristics of Cochrane Reviews of dentistry and oral health by Chinese researchers

Article type
Authors
Li M1, Yao L2, Yan P3, Li H1, Xun Y1, Han C4, Yang K5
1School of Public Health, Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Evidence-Based Social Science Center, Lanzhou University
2Chinese Medicine Faculty of Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
3Gansu Province People’s Hospital
4School of Clinical Medical Sciences, Gansu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Gansu Province People’s Hospital
5Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Evidence-Based Social Science Center, Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Knowledge Translation of Gansu Province
Abstract
Background:
Systematic reviews of dentistry and oral health have become increasingly popular. However, due to the complexity of different countries's environments, each country has a different number of papers in the field.

Objectives:
To describe the publishing characteristics of the Cochrane Reviews of dentistry and oral health by Chinese researchers.

Methods:
We searched the Cochrane Library for the topic "dentistry & oral health”, and retrieved the Advanced Search as a supplement. The search terms were health, dentistry and oral health. We used EndNote X7 and Excel 2010 for data description and analysis.

Results:
We screened 206 Cochrane Reviews of dentistry and oral health, of which only 10 articles were published by Chinese researchers, accounting for 4.85% of all Cochrane Reviews in this area. There were two (20%) protocols, and eight (80%) reviews. The first review was published online in 2011, followed by a slow upward trend: two in 2011 and 2013, one in 2014, three in 2016, and two in 2017. Eight (80%) of the correspondence authors come from Sichuan University, one (10%) from the UK and one (10%) from Australia, of which the first authors were Chinese. The first department included West China School of Stomatology (eight, 80%), Mianyang Hospital of TCM (one,10%), the University of Manchester(one,10%). There were no authors elsewhere in China. It is obvious that the published institution and region were not evenly distributed, all were concentrated in Sichuan University.

Conclusions:
Although many Cochrane Reviews of dentistry and oral health have been published, the quantity of the evidence by Chinese researchers should be improved, we should collect reviews extensively of dentistry and oral health from different countries to provide more reliable evidence.