Biomedical Research in Wrocław: A Combined Density-Equalizing Mapping and Scientometric Analysis

The aim of this study was to assess the evolution of biomedical scientific activities of Wrocław scientists in the post-war time when this field of academics was rebuilt by the works of Ludwik Hirszfeld and colleagues. Using the NewQIS platform and the Web of Science database, novel procedures such as density-equalizing mapping were combined to bibliometric tools to visualize scientific progression. In total, 10,366 biomedical research articles originating from Wrocław were identified. Since 1972, there is a steady increase in research activity with the year 2015 holding the largest number of published items (895). A total of 2934 published research cooperations with 104 different countries is present. This is a percentage of 28.3% of all publications. In total, 101 research areas are present in Wrocław biomedical research with the highest number of articles being published in the area of biochemistry/molecular biology (2140). Research in this field was cited 27,360 times. The field of immunology has 1186 articles with 9247 citations. Density-equalizing mapping and network techniques revealed a distinct global pattern of research collaborations with German, US and UK affiliations as the primary cooperating partners of Wrocław. In summary, the present study supplies the first density-equalizing mapping approach that visualizes research activity in Wrocław over the past decades.