Comparing health consumer search behavior and scientific research productivity related to COVID-19 vaccines in the USA: an infodemiology study
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-09-2021-0155 |
| Published date | 20 January 2022 |
| Date | 20 January 2022 |
| Pages | 523-535 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information in society,Information literacy,Library & information services |
| Author | Shohreh SeyyedHosseini,Brady D. Lund,Reza BasirianJahromi |
Comparing health consumer
search behavior and scientific
research productivity related to
COVID-19 vaccines in the USA:
an infodemiology study
Shohreh SeyyedHosseini
Department of Medical Library and Information Science,
Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Brady D. Lund
Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas, USA, and
Reza BasirianJahromi
Department of Medical Library and Information Science,
Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Abstract
Purpose –While vaccines are an effective preventative measure to defend against the spread and harmful
symptoms of COVID-19, information about COVID vaccines can be difficult to findand conflicting in its coverage
of vaccines’benefits and risks. This study aims to examine the extent to which Americans are searching for
information about the three major vaccine producers (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen)
in relation to the amount of reliable scholarly information that has been produced about each one.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were retrieved from Google Trends for the US Web users
alongside scientific research output of the US scientists toward three Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)-authorized COVID-19 vaccines in Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed. The authors
searched for descriptive statistical analyses to detect coronavirus-seeking behavior versus coronavirus
releasesin the USA from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021.
Findings –Of the three COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer has attracted more attention from the US population.
However, the greatestnumber of articles about COVID-19 vaccines published by the US scholars belonged to
Moderna (M= 8.17), with Pfizer (M= 7.75) having slightly less, and Janssen (M= 0.83) well behind. A
positive associationwas found between COVID-19 vaccine information-seekingbehavior (ISB) on Google and
the amount of researchproduced about that vaccine (P<0.001).
Research limitations/implications –As the researchers use the single search engine, Google, to
retrieve data from the USA, thus,selection bias will be existing as Google only gathers the data of people who
chose to get the informationby using this search engine.
Practical implications –If the policymakers in the US Departmentof Health and Human Services or the
US CDC desire to improve the country’s health ISB and the scientific publication behavior (SPB) of the US
researchersregarding COVID-19 vaccines studies, theyshould reference the results of such a study.
Originality/value –From an infodemiological viewpoint, these findings may support the health
policymakers,as well as researchers who work on COVID-19 vaccines in the USA.
Keywords COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Google Trends,
Scientific productivity
Paper type Research paper
Comparing
health
consumer
search behavior
523
Received16 September 2021
Revised5 December 2021
20December 2021
Accepted4 January 2022
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.72 No. 4/5, 2023
pp. 523-535
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-09-2021-0155
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