A bibliometric evaluation of global productivity of teledermatology publications between 1975 and 2017 with a 3-year update

Abstract

Sir, Telemedicine is a constantly evolving technique that allows medical information and services to be accessed by transferring them from hard-to-reach areas with the opportunities of modern technology. There are many studies in the literature which show that telemedicine is as effective as face-to-face evaluation.[1] Teledermatology is one of the fastest growing branches of telemedicine thanks to modern communication technology. Bibliometrics is statistical and holistic evaluation of scientific literature in a certain field.[2] Although both have been popular study areas in recent years, to the best of our knowledge, only a few bibliometric reports have been published in teledermatology. In 2014, we published a study of the teledermatology productivity of the different countries, and we evaluated teledermatology publications between 1980 and 2013.[3] A year later in 2015, we published an update to this work.[4]Sir, Telemedicine is a constantly evolving technique that allows medical information and services to be accessed by transferring them from hard-to-reach areas with the opportunities of modern technology. There are many studies in the literature which show that telemedicine is as effective as face-to-face evaluation.[1] Teledermatology is one of the fastest growing branches of telemedicine thanks to modern communication technology. Bibliometrics is statistical and holistic evaluation of scientific literature in a certain field.[2] Although both have been popular study areas in recent years, to the best of our knowledge, only a few bibliometric reports have been published in teledermatology. In 2014, we published a study of the teledermatology productivity of the different countries, and we evaluated teledermatology publications between 1980 and 2013.[3] A year later in 2015, we published an update to this work.[4]