{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T12:32:12Z","timestamp":1777984332478,"version":"3.51.4"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.174865.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772582400000}}],"reference-count":20,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772582400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences","award":["GrantNo.1404\/323\/28"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GrantNo.1404\/323\/28"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["f1000research.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["F1000Res"],"abstract":"<ns5:p>Background This bibliometric analysis evaluates health-related research in Public Health, Environmental Health, and Occupational Health (PHEOH) journals indexed in Scopus, categorized by Scimago quartiles (Q1\u2013Q4) from 2016 to 2024. The study aims to identify trends, research productivity, and thematic priorities across these journals. Methods From 654 eligible journals, 100 (25 per quartile) were randomly selected. A total of 70,580 documents were retrieved from Scopus and analysed using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer (v.1.6.20). Co-occurrence analysis of author and indexed keywords was performed separately for each quartile to identify research hotspots, thematic clusters, and trends over time. Results Q1 journals contributed the highest proportion of publications (37.7%), followed by Q2 (25.4%), Q4 (22.1%), and Q3 (14.8%). The United States dominated output in Q1\u2013Q3 journals, whereas Pakistan led in Q4. Across all quartiles, \u201cCOVID-19\u201d was the most frequent and highly connected author keyword, followed by mental health, SARS-CoV-2, and child-related research. Indexed keyword analysis ranked \u201chumans\u201d highest in every quartile. Topics related to SARS-CoV-2 and mental health received the highest average citations. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced the research agenda of Public, Environmental, and Occupational Health journals between 2016 and 2024, particularly in higher-quartile outlets. The findings reveal persistent disparities in productivity across journal tiers and geographic regions.<\/ns5:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.174865.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T09:39:06Z","timestamp":1772617146000},"page":"1468","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in Scopus-Indexed Public, Environmental and Occupational Health Journals Across Scimago Quartiles (2016\u20132024)"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1877-1308","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mehran","family":"Rostami Varnousfaderani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology Tehran Tehran Province Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences School of Public Health and Safety"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-0140-2039","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shiva","family":"Mohammadjani Kumeleh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Occupational Health and Safety Engineering Tehran Tehran Province Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences School of Public Health and Safety"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Neda","family":"Izadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Research Institute for Metabolic and Obesity Disorders, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences Tehran Tehran Province Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1-12","DOI":"10.1186\/2049-3258-73-1","article-title":"Public, environmental, and occupational health research activity in Arab countries: bibliometric, citation, and collaboration analysis.","volume":"73","author":"W Sweileh","year":"2015","journal-title":"Arch. 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Public Health."}],"container-title":["F1000Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T12:09:09Z","timestamp":1776254949000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"references-count":20,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.174865.2","relation":{"has-version":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.12688\/f1000research.174865.1","asserted-by":"subject"}],"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.197007.r468632","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.197007.r466978","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.197007.r466978","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.197007.r468632","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2046-1402"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2046-1402","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.192803.r453053, Dwi Fitria Al Husaeni, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, West Java, 14 Feb 2026, version 1, 1 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v1#referee-response-453053","order":0,"name":"referee-response-453053","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"<b>Mehran Rostami Varnousfaderani<\/b>; \n<i>Posted: 21 Feb 2026<\/i>;  In general, the article's systematic structure and argumentation flow are quite clear. However, there are weaknesses in the literature's novelty. The proportion of old references is still dominant. Based on the bibliography (pages 14\u201315), References before 2018 9 articles (43%), References 2018\u20132021 7 articles (33%), References 2022\u20132025 5 articles (24%). This means that less than 30% of the references come from the last 3 years (2022\u20132025). For a bibliometric study discussing trends up to 2024, this proportion is relatively low. The latest literature related to the Development of the latest bibliometric methodology, the structural impact of COVID-19 on global publications, the latest SJR-based journal quartile and stratification analysis, should be increased, especially from 2022\u20132024. Authors can add a minimum of 5\u20138 recent (\u22643 years) relevant references. Strengthen the Introduction and Discussion sections with a synthesis of the latest literature, not just early COVID-19 studies (2020\u20132021).  \n<b>Answer: We sincerely thank the referee for this valuable suggestion. We agree that including more recent sources would enhance the relevance and scientific credibility of the article. In response, we have carefully updated the sections in question by incorporating more recent studies (2022-2024).<\/b>  The bibliometric design with stratified interquartile sampling is appropriate and logical. The use of VOSviewer for co-occurrence analysis conforms to standard bibliometric practices. However, there are limitations in technical transparency that impact replication. The methods section is not detailed enough to guarantee full replication. Methodological deficiencies include the omission of a list of 100 journals. Furthermore, the authors state that journals were randomly selected from 654 journals. However, they do not provide a list of journal SOURCE-IDs in the article. There is also no appendix listing the selected journals. The search syntax (search string) is not displayed. It is not explained whether filters were applied to specific document types, languages, or affiliation cleaning. Furthermore, the authors do not explain whether the data was exported in a single batch or multiple batches. The keyword threshold determination is also not transparent. The article mentions a threshold of 30\u201350 to produce &plusmn;100 nodes, but does not explain the specific thresholds per quartile. The technical rationale for selecting LinLog\/modularity is not explained. It does not explain whether synonym cleaning was performed (e.g., COVID-19 vs. SARS-CoV-2). There is no data preprocessing information. Was institutional name normalization performed? Was author duplication cleaning performed? How were term variations combined (e.g., &quot;covid 19&quot; vs. &quot;covid-19&quot;)? The author could add an explanation of the VOSviewer parameters used (counting method, normalization, clustering resolution) when displaying the visualization. Without this information, the study cannot be independently replicated.  \n<b>Answer:<\/b> \n<b>We sincerely thank the reviewer for highlighting the importance of methodological transparency and reproducibility. We fully agree that bibliometric studies must provide sufficient technical detail to allow independent replication. Accordingly, we have substantially revised and expanded the Methods section to improve transparency. Specifically:<\/b> \n<b>Search Strategy Clarification<\/b> \n<b>The exact search syntax structure used in Scopus has now been explicitly reported. Parentheses have been specified to ensure the correct logical grouping of SOURCE-IDs. The complete list of the 100 selected journals and their corresponding SOURCE-IDs has been provided in Supplementary Appendix 1.<\/b> \n<b>Filtering and Data Export<\/b> \n<b>We have clarified that no restrictions were applied regarding document type, language, or subcategory. We have specified that the data were exported separately for each quartile due to Scopus export limitations.<\/b> \n<b>Threshold Determination<\/b> \n<b>The process of iteratively adjusting minimum keyword occurrence thresholds (range: 30\u201350) to generate approximately 100 nodes per network has now been clearly described.<\/b> \n<b>VOSviewer Parameter Specification<\/b> \n<b>The counting method (full counting), normalization method (association strength), clustering approach (modularity-based clustering), and LinLog layout selection have now been explicitly reported.<\/b> \n<b>Data Preprocessing Transparency<\/b> \n<b>We have clarified that no manual synonym merging or institutional normalization was performed. Keywords were analyzed in their raw indexed form to preserve author-intended terminology and to avoid introducing subjective bias through manual aggregation. This approach enhances reproducibility, as future researchers can replicate the analysis using the same raw database export.<\/b> \n<b>These revisions substantially improve the technical transparency of the manuscript and ensure that the study can now be independently replicated. We appreciate the reviewer\u2019s constructive suggestions, which have strengthened the methodological rigor of the manuscript.<\/b>  &nbsp;  The conclusions regarding COVID-19 dominance and productivity disparities between quartiles are supported by tables and visualizations (Table 1, Figures 1\u201312). However, the claim that HIV and mental health topics &quot;have a greater chance of being accepted&quot; (page 10) is speculative and needs to be tempered or supported by additional data. This study makes an interesting contribution by systematically comparing bibliometric characteristics across quartiles, a relatively rare undertaking. The design of the study is relevant, and the methodology is generally sound. However, for the article to be scientifically sound and fully reproducible, significant improvements in the transparency of the methods and updating of the literature are needed.  \n<b>Answer: We thank the reviewer for this important observation. We agree that the original wording could imply differential editorial acceptance probability, which was not directly assessed in our study. Accordingly, we have revised the Discussion section to remove speculative language and to clarify that our findings reflect thematic prominence and structural importance within the field rather than acceptance probability. <\/b>","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2#referee-comment-15506","order":1,"name":"referee-comment-15506","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.197007.r466978, Steffen Lemke, CAU Kiel University, Kiel, 27 Mar 2026, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2#referee-response-466978","order":2,"name":"referee-response-466978","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.197007.r468632, Zulfiya Kannazarova, National Research University, Tashkent, 15 Apr 2026, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1468\/v2#referee-response-468632","order":3,"name":"referee-response-468632","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"This study was supported by the Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Grant No.1404\/323\/28. The funding agency did not play any role in the planning, conduct, and reporting or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":4,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}