Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has captured the mental health discussion worldwide.
Examining countries' representation in this discussion could prove instrumental in
identifying potential gaps in terms of ensuring a truly global conversation in times
of global crisis. Methods. We collected mental health and COVID-19-related journal
articles published in PubMed in 2020. We focused on the corresponding authors' countries
of affiliation to explore countries' representation. We also examined these articles'
academic impact and correlations with their corresponding authors' countries of affiliation.
Additional journals and countries' indicators were collected from the Web of Science
and World Bank websites, respectively. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics
and the VOSviewer software. Results. In total, 3492 publications were analyzed. Based
on the corresponding author, high-income countries produced 61.9% of these publications.
Corresponding authors from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle
East combined accounted for 11.8% of the publications. Europe hosted corresponding
authors with the most publications and citations, and corresponding authors from North
America had the largest mean journal impact factor. Conclusions. The global scientific
discussion during the COVID-19 pandemic saw an increased contribution of academics
from developing countries. However, authors from high-income countries have continued
to shape this discussion. It is imperative to ensure the active participation of low-
and middle-income countries in setting up the global mental health research agenda,
particularly in situations of global crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic.
