Curare - A Curative Poison: A Scientometric Analysis

IntroductionCurare is one of the best-examined neurotoxins of the world, which has empirically been used for centuries by American Indigenes. Research on curare has been performed much later, a global scientometric analysis on curare research or its derivates does not yet exist. This bibliometric analysis is part of the global NewQis-project and should illuminate both toxic and historic issues of research on curare.MethodsThe ISI Web of Science was searched for data covering 1900 to 2013 using a term which included as many original articles on curare as possible. 3,867 articles were found and analyzed for common bibliometric items such as the number of citations, language of the articles or the (modified) Hirsch-Index (h-index). Results are illustrated utilizing modern density equalizing map projections (DEMP) or beam diagrams.ResultsMost publications were located in North America and Europe. The USA has the highest number of publications as well as the highest h-index. The number of publications overall rose until the late 1990s and later decreased. Furthermore, sudden increases of research activity are ascribable to historic events, like the first use of curare as muscle relaxant during surgery.DiscussionThis scientometric analysis of curare research reflects several tendencies as previously seen in other bibliometric investigations, i.e. the scientific quality standard of North America and Europe. Research on curare decreased however, due to the declining attention towards this muscle relaxant. This work exemplifies also how scientometric methods can be used to illuminate historic circumstances immediately stimulating scientific research.引言 箭毒（curare）是全球研究最为深入的神经毒素之一，美洲原住民凭借经验使用该物质已有数百年历史。目前针对箭毒的研究开展相对较晚，且尚无针对箭毒研究及其衍生物的全球科学计量分析。本次文献计量分析隶属于全球NewQis项目，旨在阐明箭毒研究中的毒理学与历史学相关问题。 方法 本研究通过检索ISI Web of Science数据库，获取了1900年至2013年间的相关数据，检索式尽可能覆盖所有箭毒相关原创论文。最终共检索得到3867篇文献，并对其常见文献计量指标进行分析，包括被引量、论文语种以及（修正版）Hirsch指数（h指数）。研究结果采用现代密度均衡地图投影（DEMP）或光束图进行可视化展示。 结果 绝大多数相关文献产自北美与欧洲地区，其中美国的发文量与h指数均位居全球首位。总发文量在20世纪90年代末之前呈持续增长趋势，此后逐渐下降。此外，研究活跃度的突发增长可归因于若干历史事件，例如箭毒首次作为肌肉松弛剂应用于外科手术。 讨论 本次箭毒研究的科学计量分析，展现了其他文献计量研究中已观测到的若干趋势，即北美与欧洲地区的科研质量水准。不过由于学界对该肌肉松弛剂的关注度不断下降，箭毒相关研究也随之减少。本研究同时证明，科学计量方法可用于阐明直接推动科研发展的历史背景。