Published biomedical research in Algeria – state of the art in 2014

Background: Biomedical research is the motor for improving knowledge in the domains of biology, medical sciences, dentistry, and pharmacology. PubMed is the most known biomedical search engine; it covers all the “indexed” biomedical journals. We wanted to make a state of the art of Algerian biomedical research articles through a PubMed search. Methods: a PubMed search was performed on December 15th, 2014, using the PubMed website, by including as a unique search word: “Algeria”, as a MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) and as a free search, in order to capture all articles having included Algerian authors or having concerned an Algerian population. The intervals for the date of publication were restricted between January 1st and December 15th, 2014. We have saved the results, read the abstracts, and if necessary, the whole article. Results: All in all, 412 articles have been identified, in progression as compared with the preceding years (288 in 2012 and 336 in 2013). More than half of the articles were dealing with fundamental and translational research. Only three articles were published in surgery. Here we show a subjective selection of articles that we have judged are the most innovative. Conclusion: biomedical research, completed with an “indexed” publication is progressing in Algeria, although our country is still behind some African and Arab countries. Much progress has been made in improving knowledge in biomedical domains in Algeria, which deserves to be encouraged and amplified.