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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

González-De-Julián, SCorresponding AuthorVivas-Consuelo, DAuthor

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Article

COVID-19, Fake News, and Vaccines: Should Regulation Be Implemented?

Publicated to:International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health. 18 (2): 744-11 - 2021-01-01 18(2), DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020744

Authors: Marco-Franco, Julio Emilio; Pita-Barros, Pedro; Vivas-Orts, David; Gonzalez-de-Julian, Silvia; Vivas-Consuelo, David

Affiliations

Nova Univ, Nova Sch Business & Econ - Author
Univ Politecn Valencia, Res Ctr Econ Engn - Author
Univ Pompeu Fabra, Fac Law - Author

Abstract

We analysed issues concerning the establishment of compulsory vaccination against COVID-19, as well as the role of misinformation as a disincentive-especially when published by health professionals-and citizen acceptance of measures in this regard. Data from different surveys revealed a high degree of hesitation rather than outright opposition to vaccines. The most frequent complaint related to the COVID-19 vaccination was the fear of side effects. Within the Spanish and European legislative framework, both compulsory vaccination and government regulation of FN (Fake News) appear to be feasible options, counting on sufficient legal support, which could be reinforced by additional amendment. However, following current trends of good governance, policymakers must have public legitimation. Rather than compulsory COVID-19 vaccination, an approach based on education and truthful information, persuading the population of the benefits of a vaccine on a voluntary basis, is recommended. Disagreements between health professionals are positive, but they should be resolved following good practice and the procedures of the code of ethics. Furthermore, citizens do not support the involvement of government authorities in the direct control of news. Collaboration with the media and other organizations should be used instead.

Keywords

AdultArticleAttitude to healthCitizen groupCommunicationCommunications mediaCoronavirus disease 2019Covid-19Covid-19 vaccinesDisinformationDrug efficacyDrug safetyFake newsFearGood clinical practiceGood health and well-beingGovernmentGovernment regulationGovernmental organizationGovernmental regulationsHealth educationHealth knowledge, attitudes, practiceHealth policyHumanHumansInformation disseminationInterpersonal communicationLawLocal governmentMass mediumMedical code of ethicsMedical ethicsNon-governmental organizationPerceptionPolicy implementationPsychologyPublic-opinionRegulatory approachReligionSars-cov-2 vaccineSocial behaviorSocial mediaVaccinationVaccineViral disease

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health.

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: 5.49. 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 14, 2024)

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: 3.33 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 54.71 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-18, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 66
  • Scopus: 74
  • Europe PMC: 39
  • OpenCitations: 74

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 2025-06-18:

  • 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: 447.
  • 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: 447 (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: 5.35.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 4 (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.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/10251/169299
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, with a probability of 0% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Portugal.

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 (Marco-Franco, JE) and Last Author (Vivas Consuelo, David José Juan).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been González De Julián, Silvia.