Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-02T10:05:47.436Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Qualitative and quantitative aspects of recent research on helminth parasites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2024

R. Poulin*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
*
*Fax: 64 3 479 7584 E-mail: robert.poulin@stonebow.otago.ac.nz

Abstract

Relationships between the species diversity of different taxa, the mean number of articles published per year on each taxon, and the mean impact factor of the journals in which they appear, were examined across six taxa of helminths: Nematomorpha, Acanthocephala, Monogenea, Trematoda, Cestoda and Nematoda, the latter including only animal parasitic nematodes. The mean annual output of scientific articles per taxon was not related to the species diversity of these taxa or, at least, not significantly. Thus, the large volume of publications on nematodes is not merely a reflection of their estimated diversity. There were significant differences among taxa in the mean impact factor of the journals in which papers on each taxon appeared, with nematodes having the highest mean score, followed by trematodes and cestodes. In addition, across the six taxa, the mean journal impact factor correlated positively and significantly with the mean annual number of papers published: not only are there more papers published on nematodes and trematodes than on nematomorphs or acanthocephalans, but they are also generally published in higher-ranking journals. These results suggest that there is an increasing gap in the quantity and general importance of the research carried out on different helminth taxa.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bush, A.O., Fernández, J.C., Esch, G.W. & Seed, J.R. (2001) Parasitism: the diversity and ecology of animal parasites. 566 pp. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Christenson, J.A. & Sigelman, L. (1985) Accrediting knowledge: journal stature and citation impact in social science. Social Science Quarterly 66, 964975.Google Scholar
Murtaugh, P.A. (2002) Journal quality, effect size, and publication bias in meta-analysis. Ecology 83, 11621166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulin, R. & Morand, S. (2000) The diversity of parasites. Quarterly Review of Biology 75, 277293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, L.S. & Janovy, J. Jr. (1996) Foundations of parasitology. 6th edn. 670 pp. Boston, McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Rohde, K. (1996) Robust phylogenies and adaptive radiations: a critical examination of methods used to identify key innovations. American Naturalist 148, 481500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar