Objective: The objective of this study was to assess global research output in the field of PET and to provide a general picture of PET research.
Materials and methods: Publications on PET from 2007 to 2016 were identified using the Web of Science. The total number of papers, the number of papers adjusted by gross domestic product (GDP)/population size, total citations, and average citations were investigated.
Results: A total of 40 670 papers were identified in the field of PET between 2007 and 2016. The number of papers published per year were significantly increased during this period (P=0.000). High-income countries published the maximum papers (89.95%), followed by middle-income countries (10.05%), whereas no papers were published by authors from low-income countries. The USA published the largest number of papers (11 936), followed by Japan (3667), Germany (3424), China (2508), and the UK (2424), and the USA had the highest total number of citations (361 498). The UK had the highest average citations (31.81). Positive correlations were found between the total number of papers and GDP (P=0.000, r=0.909)/population (P=0.000, r=0.772). When normalized by GDP, Denmark ranked the first (23.56), followed by The Netherlands (17.18) and Belgium (15.32). When adjusted for population, Denmark ranked the first (111.55), followed by The Netherlands (87.91) and Switzerland (86.93).
Conclusion: Global scientific production represents a rapid increase in the PET field in recent years. The majority of PET papers are from high-income countries. The USA is the most prolific country, whereas some smaller European countries may be more prolific relative to their GDP/population.