Bibliometric mapping of the contribution of African optometry researchers to ophthalmic literature

ABSTRACT Clinical relevance The theoretical basis and evidence-based clinical practice of optometry and vision science are expressed primarily in refereed journals of academic and professional repute. These journals serve as the reference and access point for advances and innovations in the field of optometry. Background Africa has the highest global burden of visual impairment, yet the contribution of African optometry researchers to ophthalmic research has not been assessed. This study examines the scholarly output and publication outlets of the leading African optometry academics to evaluate their contribution to ophthalmic literature. Methods A bibliometric analysis was undertaken using Scopus-indexed publications authored by the leading African optometry researchers. The Scopus records for each of the fifty scholars were extracted and deduplicated, yielding metadata on document types, language, citation counts, journal titles, and metrics (h-index, Impact Factor, Cite Score). The Bibliometrix package in R was used to analyse the research output and publication trends. The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess the associations between African contributions and global journal metrics. Results African optometry researchers published 1319 papers across 341 journals, accumulating 86,218 citations with an overall h-index of 72. Original research articles comprised 84.4%. Though open access articles had a higher volume (58.7%), subscription-based articles (41.3%) showed a higher citation impact than open access articles (mean rank:641.18 vs 686.73; U = 225,481.50, p = 0.032). Publications were concentrated in 27 core journals. No significant correlations were found between African-authored article counts and Impact Factor (rs = –0.069, p = 0.738) or between African h-index and journal quartile (χ2 (2) = 4.58, p = 0.101). Conclusions African optometry researchers have demonstrated increasing productivity and contribution to ophthalmic research. However, relevance and accessibility drive journal selection more than impact metrics alone, highlighting the need to bridge the gap between research visibility and global recognition.