Background: Despite the worldwide increase in health research, few studies have evaluated the health research productivity in member states of the Gulf Health Council (GHC). This study aimed to solicit the period-prevalence and publication rates of health research productivity in the seven GHC countries. Methods: Scopus database was utilized for the prescribed period (1996–2018). The targeted information was attained through the portal of the SCImago Journal and Country Rank. Using a set of qualitative (citation-based) and quantitative (document recount) indicators, complementary data was derived. Overall and country-specific period-prevalence and publication rates were estimated and standardized to the corresponding overall GCC population and country-specific population size. Results: Overall, a total of 112,409 articles were enumerated during the study period from 1996 to 2018. The majority (59.8%) of which were from Saudi Arabia, followed by UAE (11.9%). The GCC publications were associated with 1,315,778 citations, which revealed a Hirsch-index (H-index) of 46.0. The period-prevalence of health publications for the overall GCC region was 1320 publications per million population (PPMP) over 22 years, and the publication rate estimate was 13.2 (95%CI 13.1, 13.3) publication per 10,000 population. The highest publication rate estimate was noted in Qatar (36.5; 95%CI 35.8, 37.3), followed by Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, and Yemen. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study is the first study in the context of GCC to utilize period-prevalence and publication rates to chart health research productivity in the GCC region. Concerted efforts are required to improve the quality and quantity of the health research output in the GCC region.

Background: Despite the worldwide increase in health research, few studies have evaluated the health research productivity in member states of the Gulf Health Council (GHC). This study aimed to solicit the period-prevalence and publication rates of health research productivity in the seven GHC count...