Health-related publications on people living in fragile states in the alert zone: a bibliometric analysis

Background Fragile states pose a global challenge. Assessing health research activity on people living in these states can help identify neglected health domains in fragile settings. The objective of the current study was to assess and describe health research activity on people living in fragile states in the alert zone. Method A bibliometric method was applied using SciVerse Scopus. Research articles published on people in fragile states in the alert zone were retrieved and analyzed. The Fragile State Index (FSI) score was used for selection of states in the alert zone. The analysis was limited to 1 year; 2018. Results The search query found 2299 research articles giving an average of 2 research articles per one million population per year in the selected fragile states. The number of research articles per one million population was not significantly correlated (p = 0.053; r = - 0.349) with FSI scores. However, it was significantly correlated with the extent of international research collaboration (p Conclusion Research on fragile states was relatively low. Research on mental health and health system/policy should be encouraged. Collaboration and funding might help academic institutions in fragile states to make health problems in these countries more visible.