Table 2.
Specialties on the front lines against COVID-19: relative size and professors’ research performance (Pctl 100 = top) vis-à-vis all bibliometric fields (218) in the Italian academic system (percentage share of total staff in the dataset, in brackets)
| Specialty | No. of Professors* | Size (Pctl) | Research performance (Pctl) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathology | 489 (8.7%) | 93.5 | 99.1 |
| Cardiac & cardiovascular systems | 247 (4.4%) | 79.1 | 95.0 |
| Cell biology | 244 (4.3%) | 78.7 | 92.7 |
| Respiratory system | 105 (1.9%) | 42.5 | 89.9 |
| Microbiology | 120 (2.1%) | 49.5 | 89.0 |
| Biochemistry & molecular biology | 154 (2.7%) | 61.1 | 87.1 |
| Clinical neurology | 350 (6.2%) | 88.4 | 84.4 |
| Public health | 429 (7.6%) | 93.0 | 82.4 |
| General internal medicine | 739 (13.2%) | 97.6 | 79.3 |
| Pharmacology & pharmacy | 637 (11.3%) | 95.8 | 77.9 |
| Medicinal chemistry | 428 (7.6%) | 92.5 | 70.6 |
| Anesthesiology and emergency medicine | 216 (3.8%) | 76.8 | 70.1 |
| Medical laboratory technology | 141 (2.5%) | 56.9 | 65.9 |
| Virology | 310 (5.5%) | 85.6 | 64.1 |
| Pediatrics | 332 (5.9%) | 87.5 | 63.6 |
| Infectious diseases | 139 (2.5%) | 56.0 | 49.4 |
| Radiology, nuclear medicine & medical imaging | 320 (5.7%) | 86.1 | 48.4 |
| Immunology | 110 (2.0%) | 45.8 | 42.9 |
| Nursing | 32 (0.6%) | 7.8 | 27.7 |
| Pharmaceutical biology | 72 (1.3%) | 21.7 | 25.4 |
| Total | 5614 |
*On staff for at least three years in the 2014–2018 period