Journal of Medical Library and Information Science

Introduction: The digital divide in higher education affects both access to technology and its effective use. This study examined the digital divide among faculty members at Golestan University of Medical Sciences and explored the relationships among ICT literacy, practical skills, and teaching/research requirements.

 Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 among 95 faculty members selected from a total of 333 via convenience sampling. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire comprising five sections: demographic information; access to and use of information and communication technology (ICT); ICT literacy; practical abilities and skills in using ICTs; and educational and research requirements. Descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests for group comparisons, and Spearman’s correlation for relationships between ICT dimensions were applied using SPSS.

 Results: Indicators of ICT access showed no substantial access-based digital divide: 94.7% of participants reported high-speed internet access at home, 89.5% used ICTs several times per day, and 65.3% reported more than three hours of daily ICT use. However, mean scores for ICT literacy (22.58 ± 5.36 out of 32), practical ICT skills (109.39 ± 27.34 out of 160), and educational and research requirements (28.55 ± 8.33 out of 36) indicated moderate competency levels. Faculty members from clinically oriented schools, particularly Medicine and Dentistry, consistently obtained lower mean scores across these dimensions. Strong and statistically significant correlations were observed between ICT literacy and practical skills (r = 0.605, p < 0.001) and between practical skills and educational and research requirements (r = 0.653, p < 0.001).

 Conclusion: At Golestan University of Medical Sciences, while ICT access is largely achieved, skill-based challenges remain, particularly in clinically oriented faculties. The interconnection among ICT literacy, practical skills, and teaching/research requirements indicates that the observed digital divide is primarily skills- and outcome-based rather than access-related, and that improvements in one dimension can support gains in others.

Introduction: The relationship between religion and health has attracted increasing scholarly attention, especially regarding Islam and Christianity as the world’s two largest religions. This study aimed to compare health-related scientific publications on Islam and Christianity indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) using a scientometric approach.

Methods: This descriptive quantitative study employed scientometric analysis and co-authorship network mapping. Bibliographic data were retrieved from the WoS Core Collection on May 20, 2022, using search strategies based on key religion-related terms (e.g., Islam, Muslim, Quran; Christianity, Christian, Bible) combined with health- and medicine-related keywords. After screening titles and abstracts to remove irrelevant records, the remaining data were exported in TXT format and analyzed using EndNote, Microsoft Excel, and VOSviewer. Publication trends, citation patterns, prolific countries, organizations, journals, authors, and keyword and co-authorship networks were examined.

Results: A total of 3,747 Islam-related and 2,756 Christianity-related health publications were included. Pakistan, the USA, and Iran were the leading producers of Islam-related publications, while the USA, England, and India were most productive for Christianity. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association was the most prolific journal for Islam, and Mental Health, Religion & Culture ranked first for Christianity. Co-authorship networks showed broader international collaboration in Christianity-related research, while collaboration in Islam-related publications was more concentrated. Despite growth in publication output in both Islam- and Christianity-related health research, citation impact did not increase proportionally in either domain.

Conclusion: Health-related publications on Islam and Christianity have grown across the past decade; however, their citation impact remains limited. Strengthening research quality, visibility, and international collaboration may enhance the overall contribution of religion-and-health scholarship.

Introduction: As cloud computing expands in higher education and academic research, understanding faculty members’ attitudes toward this technology has become increasingly critical. This research sought to develop and evaluate the psychometric qualities of a valid instrument for assessing faculty members’ attitudes toward cloud computing.

Methods: As a methodological cross-sectional study, it was carried out in two phases: Instrument development and psychometric testing. The population included all faculty members at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2024, and a sample of 217 was determined using the Morgan table and a random sampling method. Data analysis was performed using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis and SPSS and AMOS version 23 software.

 Results: After assessing the face and content validity of the initial 34-item questionnaire, four items were removed. Exploratory factor analysis then organized the remaining 30 items into six factors: “infrastructure,” “software,” “network,” “flexibility,” “costs,” and “security,” which collectively accounted for 74.2% of the overall variance. The reliability of the instrument was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, yielding a coefficient of 0.935. Additionally, CFA (χ2 [368] = 1079.178, P < 0.001, GFI = 0.901, CMIN / DF = 2.93, NFI = 0.811, RMSEA = 0.078) demonstrated a good model fit, with all factors showing statistical significance.

Conclusion: The findings confirm that the developed questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing faculty attitudes and key service dimensions (infrastructure, software, network, flexibility, costs, and security) of cloud computing in academic contexts. By providing a concise and comprehensive evaluation tool, this study makes a meaningful contribution to the systematic assessment of cloud computing in medical universities and supports future research and informed decision-making.

Introduction: Regenerative medicine (RM) is one of the fastest-growing fields of biomedical innovation. Patent analysis provides valuable insights into technological development and global innovation trends. This study aimed to analyze worldwide patent activity in RM between 2005 and 2025.

 Methods: This applied study employed a descriptive-analytical patentometric approach. Patent data were retrieved from the Orbit Intelligence database using a structured search strategy that applied the term “RM” to the title, abstract, and claims fields. Granted and expired patent families published between 2005 and 2025 were included, resulting in 10,475 records. The data were retrieved on 25 October 2025, and data cleaning and analysis were performed using Python. Temporal trends, leading countries, major assignees, and technological domains were analyzed.

 Results: The temporal distribution of patents showed a gradual increase from 2005 to 2012, followed by a pronounced acceleration from 2015 to 2020, during which nearly half of all identified patents were issued. Patent activity peaked in 2018–2019 before experiencing a moderate decline. China (41.41%) and the United States (31.95%) together accounted for nearly three-quarters of all RM patents, highlighting their leading roles in shaping global innovation. South Korea ranked third (8.5%), while Germany, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and Canada constituted a secondary group of contributors. Analysis of technological domains indicated that pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical technology represented the most active areas within the RM patent landscape.

 Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the rapid expansion and consolidation of RM technologies and highlight the value of patent-based intelligence for informing research priorities, investment strategies, technology management, and future innovation in this evolving field.

Cancer stigma represents a significant barrier to cancer prevention and early detection. One of the less examined mechanisms through which stigma operates is its influence on health information avoidance. This study explores how cancer stigma may lead individuals to avoid cancer-related information through mechanisms such as identity threat, anticipated stigma, and internalized stigma. Avoidance of health information can contribute to delays in seeking medical care, reduced participation in screening programs, and diagnosis at more advanced stages of disease. Evidence suggests that these processes are shaped by cultural beliefs, social norms, and structural inequalities, and may be intensified among vulnerable populations. In addition, social capital—including trust, supportive networks, and shared social norms—may play an important role in moderating or amplifying the effects of stigma on health information avoidance. Therefore, addressing cancer stigma should be considered a central component of cancer control strategies and requires multi-level interventions at individual, social, and structural levels to promote health information seeking, increase participation in screening, and improve early detection.