Coronavirus research before 2020 is more relevant than ever, especially when interpreted for COVID-19
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Authors
Thelwall, MichaelIssue Date
2020-12-31
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The speed with which biomedical specialists were able to identify and characterise COVID-19 was partly due to prior research with other coronaviruses. Early epidemiological comparisons with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), also made it easier to predict COVID-19’s likely spread and lethality. This article assesses whether academic interest in prior coronavirus research has translated into interest in the primary source material, using Mendeley reader counts for early academic impact evidence. The results confirm that SARS and MERS research 2008-2017 experienced anomalously high increases in Mendeley readers in April-May 2020. Nevertheless, studies learning COVID-19 lessons from SARS and MERS or using them as a benchmark for COVID-19 have generated much more academic interest than primary studies of SARS or MERS. Thus, research that interprets prior relevant research for new diseases when they are discovered seems to be particularly important to help researchers to understand its implications in the new context.Citation
Thelwall, M. (2020) Coronavirus research before 2020 is more relevant than ever, especially when interpreted for COVID-19, Quantitative Science Studies, forthcoming.Publisher
MIT PressJournal
Quantitative Science StudiesType
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by MIT Press in Quantitative Science Studies, forthcoming. The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.ISSN
2641-3337Collections
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/