National Infectious Disease Research Landscape

The National Infectious Disease (ID) Research Strategy and Coordination Office has been monitoring Singapore's ID research landscape since 2015 through bibliometric and scientometric analyses. These analyses provide insights into the current state of research and emerging needs across various disciplines, including basic science, translational and clinical research, health services research, and public health.

Data sources include ID-related publications with local authors, national and international grants, internal and external collaborations. This comprehensive approach helps the team identify trends, gaps and opportunities to strengthen Singapore's ID research ecosystem.

The team's focus is based on the top 5 priority areas that have been identified by the Infectious Disease Taskforce (IDTF) in 2015:

1. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) / Healthcare-associated infections (HAI);

2. Respiratory tract infections (RTI);

3. Sexually transmitted infections (STI);

4. Vector-borne diseases (VBD); and

5. Tuberculosis (TB).

Framework of Singapore infectious diseases research landscape mapping

A literature search was conducted with a detailed search strategy containing infectious diseases keywords and their respective Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) using the thesaurus from the MEDLINE database in “title, abstract and keywords”. Only records, regardless of their document type (e.g., articles, reviews, case reports), published in the English language during the predetermined timeframe and capturing an element of infectious diseases in Singapore were included. The extracted publications were saved as full records with cited references.

Each article was further reviewed to be included for scientometric analyses upon agreement by team members. Data processing and cleaning were performed using multiple open-source software:

• CiteSpace 5.5;

• Gephi 0.9.2;

• VOSviewer 1.6.13; and

• Tableau Public (for analytical purposes)

This led to the scientometric analyses and visualisation for grant and research output of local infectious diseases research studies summarised in the flowchart above. We acknowledge the limitations of this approach in that some articles, grants and publications will not be captured. Please let us know if you are aware of any missing data and we can review those data for possible inclusion.

The present research landscape mapping analyses the research grant distributions, co-authorship patterns, countries, institutions and keywords in the prioritised infectious diseases areas from the previous IDTF.

Grant analysis

In grant analysis, the number of grants awarded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the National Medical Research Foundation (NRF) from January 2015 to present is examined, based on data from the Integrated Grant Management System.

Following this, a detailed analysis of the awarded projects is conducted, categorising them into infectious disease and non-ID studies, as well as further segmenting them by identified research domains.

Additionally, a grant analysis network that highlights key funding sources and international collaborations supporting Singapore’s ID research has been developed by the team.

National Research Foundation Grants

Number of grants awarded from January 2015 to present. (Photo credit: NCID)

National Medical Research Council Grants

Number of grants awarded from January 2015 to present. (Photo credit: NCID)

Grant funding sources

(Photo credit: National Centre of Infectious Diseases)

To view a network visualisation of key funding sources and international collaborations that support Singapore’s infectious disease research, click here.

International collaborations are identified based on publications with author affiliations from other countries.

Research output analysis

Example of research output analysis. (Photo credit: National Centre of Infectious Diseases)

For research output analysis, the team focuses on two key aspects:

1. Co-authorship analysis - This examines collaborative interactions within domain-specific research communities. The connections between research and clinician scientists illustrate the network of collaborations and the collective research output within Singapore.

2. Sub-domain and Research Type Analysis – This assesses the distribution of published papers across various sub-domains and categorises the types of research conducted within each domain.

To view an interactive research output analysis, please click here.

Directory of experts

The directory of infectious disease experts provides a comprehensive listing of active ID researchers in Singapore. It includes their affiliations, research interests, and current areas of focus, which are updated annually to ensure relevance. The directory is reviewed every year to maintain accuracy and completeness.

By offering this resource, we aim to encourage and facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations among researchers at both local and international levels.

Click here to view the directory of infectious disease experts.