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Analysis of institutional authors

Gaviria, A ZapateroCorresponding AuthorMartin, R BarbaAuthor

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June 5, 2023
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What do we know about the origin of COVID-19 three years later?

Publicated to: REVISTA CLINICA ESPANOLA. 223 (4): 240-243 - 2023-04-04 223(4), DOI: 10.1016/j.rce.2023.02.002

Authors:

Gaviria, AZ; Martin, RB
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Affiliations

Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Serv Med Interna, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Hosp Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Serv Med Interna, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

More than three years have passed since the first case of a new coronavirus infection (SARS-CoV-2) in the city of Wuhan (Hubei, China). The Wuhan Institute of Virology was founded in that city in 1956 and the country's first biosafety level 4 laboratory opened within that center in 2015. The coincidence that the first cases of infection emerged in the city where the virology institute's headquarters is located, the failure to 100% identify the virus' RNA in any of the coronaviruses isolated in bats, and the lack of evidence on a possible intermediate animal host in the contagion's transmission make it so that at present, there are doubts about the real origin of SARS-CoV-2. This article will review two theories: SARS-CoV-2 as a virus of zoonotic origin or as a leak from the high-level biosafety laboratory in Wuhan.(c) 2023 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. and Sociedad Espanola de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.
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Keywords

AnimalAnimalsBatBiosafetyChinaChiropteraCoronavirus disease 2019Covid-19Covid-19 originEpidemiologyHumanNonhumanReviewRna, viralSars-cov-2Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Virus rnaWuhan institute of virology

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal REVISTA CLINICA ESPANOLA due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 88/329, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Medicine, General & Internal. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Medicine (Miscellaneous).

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.01. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 3.14 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-07, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 7
  • Scopus: 16
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-07:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 61.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 142 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 27.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 19 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Zapatero Gaviria, Antonio) and Last Author (Barba Martín, Raquel).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Zapatero Gaviria, Antonio.

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