What can we learn from top-cited articles in inflammatory bowel disease? A bibliometric analysis and assessment of the level of evidence

Research trends in the field of the gut-brain interaction: Functional dyspepsia in the spotlight – An integrated bibliometric and science mapping approach

Objectives

This study aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of functional dyspepsia (FD), which includes visualizing bibliographic information, in order to identify prevailing study themes, topics of interest, contributing journals, countries, institutions, and authors as well as co-citation patterns.

Methods

The Web of Science™ Core Collection Database was used to retrieve all peer-reviewed scientific publications related to FD research. The validated search terms were entered into the “title” and “author keywords” fields, and the results were sorted by publication year from 2006 to 2022. There were no restrictions on language. On 12 February 2023, a manual export of the complete metadata for each original publication and review article was performed. CiteSpace was used to reveal co-authorship, publication, and co-citation patterns to find prominent authors, organizations, countries, and journals in FD research as well as to identify author keywords with strong citation bursts, which could indicate an emerging research area. VOSviewer was used to build the co-occurrence indicator (co-word) to identify the main author keywords on which previous studies focused and to induce clustered scientific landscape for two consecutive periods to identify intriguing areas for future research.

Results

A search of the database retrieved 2,957 documents. There was a wave-like pattern in the number of publications until 2017, after which there was a spike in publication volume. The USA, China, and Japan provided the majority of contributions. In terms of institution, Mayo Clin, Univ Newcastle, and Katholieke Univ Leuven were found to be the prolific institutions. Additionally, the results indicate that eastern Asian researchers contributed significantly to the global knowledge of literature that led other countries; however, Canada, the USA, Australia, England, and Germany were found to have the highest degree of betweenness centrality. Nicholas J. Talley, Jan Tack, Gerald Holtmann, Michael Camilleri, Ken Haruma, and Paul Moayyedi occupied the top positions based on productivity and centrality indicators. Six thematic clusters emerged (Helicobacter pylori infection; pathophysiological mechanisms of FD; extraintestinal co-morbidities and overlap syndromes associated with FD; herbal medicine in FD; diabetic gastroparesis; and dietary factors in FD). “Acupuncture,” “duodenal eosinophilia,” “gut microbiota,” and others were among the author keywords with rising prevalence.

Conclusion

In FD research, eastern Asian countries have established themselves as major contributors with the highest publishing productivity; however, research has primarily been driven by North America, Europe, and Australia, where cooperation is generally more active and highly influential scientific results are produced. Our analysis suggests that increased investments, training of human resources, improved infrastructures, and expanded collaborations are essential to improving the quality of FD research in Asia. The emerging author keyword analysis suggests that eosinophil-mast cell axis, gut microbiota, mental disorders, and acupuncture are the key areas that attract researchers’ attention as future research boulevards. There is a highly skewed distribution of research output across Asia, with most focus on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) coming from Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean centers. However, CAM remains an underexplored area of research in the context of FD, and it deserves greater research efforts in order to obtain quality scientific evidence. Furthermore, we propose that the research framework of CAM should not be limited to dysmotility; rather, it could be interpreted within a more holistic context that includes the brain-gut-microbiota axis, as well as novel concepts such as duodenitis, increased mucosal permeability, and infiltration and activation of eosinophils and mast cells, among others. Overall, we provided bibliometrics-based overviews of relevant literature to researchers from different backgrounds and healthcare professionals to provide an in-depth overview of major trends in FD research.

The 50 Most Cited Papers Pertaining to American Football: Analysis of Studies From the Past 40 Years

Background

Bibliometric citation analyses have been widely used in medicine to help researchers gain foundational knowledge about a topic and identify subtopics of popular interest for further investigations.

Purpose

To identify the 50 most cited research publications related to American football.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

The Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database was used to generate a list of publications relating to football. Articles were filtered by the total number of citations, and the top 50 most cited articles studying the sport of football were selected for this analysis. Articles were analyzed by author, publication year, country of origin, institution affiliation, journal, article type, main research topic area, competitive level, and the level of evidence. A total of 247 articles were reviewed to reach the top 50 articles.

Results

The most studied topic within the top 50 articles was concussion/chronic traumatic encephalopathy (n = 40). Collegiate football was the most studied level of competition (n = 25). The journal publishing the greatest number of top articles was Neurosurgery. Two institutions, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Boston University School of Medicine, produced over one-third of top 50 articles (n = 18).

Conclusion

Our analysis indicated that most of the top 50 publications related to the sport of football focused on concussion and CTE, were observational, and were published during or after 2000. The most studied level of competition was collegiate football.

Research hotspot and trend analysis in the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease: A machine learning bibliometric analysis from 2012 to 2021

Aims

This study aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature on the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and show its current status, hot spots, and development trends.

Methods

The literature on IBD diagnosis was acquired from the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science Core Collection. Co-occurrence and cooperation relationship analysis of authors, institutions, countries, journals, references, and keywords in the literature were carried out through CiteSpace software and the Online Analysis platform of Literature Metrology. At the same time, the relevant knowledge maps were drawn, and the keywords cluster analysis and emergence analysis were performed.

Results

14,742 related articles were included, showing that the number of articles in this field has increased in recent years. The results showed that PEYRIN-BIROULET L from the University Hospital of Nancy-Brabois was the author with the most cumulative number of articles. The institution with the most articles was Mayo Clin, and the United States was far ahead in the article output and had a dominant role. Keywords analysis showed that there was a total of 818 keywords, which were mainly focused on the research of related diseases caused or coexisted by IBD, such as colorectal cancer and autoimmune diseases, and the diagnosis and treatment methods of IBD. Emerging analysis showed that future research hotspots and trends might be the treatment of IBD and precision medicine.

Conclusion

This research was the first bibliometric analysis of publications in the field of IBD diagnosis using visualization software and data information mining, and obtained the current status, hotspots, and development of this field. The future research hotspot might be the precision medicine of IBD, and the mechanism needed to be explored in depth to provide a theoretical basis for its clinical application.

The 100 Most-Cited and Influential Articles in Collegiate Athletics

Background

Bibliometric citation analyses have been widely used in medicine to help researchers gain foundational knowledge about a topic and identify subtopics of popular interest for further investigations. There is a lack of similar research in collegiate athletics.

Purpose

To identify the 100 most-cited research publications related to collegiate athletics.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

The Clarivate Analytics Web of Knowledge database was used to generate a list of articles relating to collegiate athletics on January 24, 2022. Articles were filtered by the total number of citations, and the 100 most-cited articles were selected. For each article, we identified and analyzed the following: author name, publication year, country of origin, journal name, article type, main research topic area, competitive level, sex of study population, and level of evidence.

Results

Of the top 100 most-cited articles, 63 were related to medicine. In total, 96% of articles were published in the United States, and 80% were published in the year 2000 or later. Of the top 100 articles, 85 were observational; only 5 were experimental. The sport most represented was soccer, followed by football, baseball, and basketball. Of the top 100 articles, 21 were published in a single journal, the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Ten authors published ≥5 of the top 100 most-cited studies.

Conclusion

The majority of top 100 articles were published in the United States after 1999 and primarily focused on medicine-related topics. Soccer was studied by more articles than football, baseball, and basketball. An author's prestige may have influenced the likelihood of citation. The top 100 most-cited studies provide researchers, medical students, residents, and fellows with a foundational list of the most important and influential academic contributions to the literature on collegiate athletics.

Global Research Trends in Tendon Stem Cells from 1991 to 2020: A Bibliometric and Visualized Study

Background

Tendinopathy is a disabling musculoskeletal disorder affecting the athletics and general populations. There have been increased studies using stem cells in treating tendon diseases. The aim of this bibliometric and visualized study is to comprehensively investigate the current status and global trends of research in tendon stem cells.

Methods

Publications related to tendon stem cells from 1991 to 2020 were retrieved from Web of Science and then indexed using a bibliometric methodology. VOSviewer software was used to conduct the visualized study, including coauthorship, cocitation, and cooccurrence analysis and to analyze the publication trends of research in tendon stem cells.

Results

In total, 2492 articles were included and the number of publications increased annually worldwide. The United States made the largest contribution to this field, with the most publications (938 papers, 37.64%), citation frequency (68,195 times), and the highest H-index (103). The most contributive institutions were University of Pittsburgh (96 papers), Zhejiang University (70 papers), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Chinese University of Hong Kong (both 64 papers). The Journal of Orthopaedic Research published the most relative articles. Studies could be classified into five clusters: “Animal study,” “Tissue engineering,” “Clinical study,” “Mechanism research,” and “Stem cells research”, which show a balanced development trend.

Conclusion

Publications on tendon stem cells may reached a platform based on current global trends. According to the inherent changes of hotspots in each cluster and the possibilities of cross-research, the research in tendon stem cells may exist a balanced development trend.

The Most Highly Cited Publications on Basketball Originate From English-Speaking Countries, Are Published After 2000, Are Focused on Medicine-Related Topics, and Are Level III Evidence

Purpose

To identify the 50 most highly cited research publications in the sport of basketball.

Methods

Using the Clarivate Analytics Web of Knowledge database and the search term “basketball”, we identified 2,704 articles. These articles were filtered by the total number of citations and the top 50 most cited articles with a central focus on basketball were selected for this analysis. For each article, we further identified and analyzed author name, publication year, country of origin, journal name, article type, main research topic area, competitive level, gender of study population, and the level of evidence.

Results

Medicine-related topics, particularly those involving knee injuries, are more common than nonmedical topics (coaching, sports psychology etc.) among the highest cited articles. Articles originated from 13 different countries, with 48% originating in the United States. Only four authors had more than one article included in the top 50 most cited articles.

Conclusion

A majority of the top 50 research articles were from English-speaking countries, published after 2000, primarily focused on medicine-related topics, and were Level III evidence. Publications examining knee injuries were the most highly cited and appear to be of high interest to current investigators. The prestige of an author’s name appeared to be less influential to the number of citations.

Clinical Relevance

The top 50 most cited articles list will provide researchers, medical students, residents, and fellows with a foundational list of the most important and influential academic contributions to the basketball literature.

Biologic therapy for Crohn’s disease over the last 3 decades

BACKGROUND

Despite the overload of publications on Crohn’s disease (CD), no comprehensive analysis of biologic therapy for CD has been reported.

AIM

To determine knowledge gaps and identify areas of interest of biologic therapy for CD.

METHODS

The top 100 highest-cited original articles were identified from January 1991 to December 2020 in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science Core Collection database. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of biologic therapy for CD based on total citations, summarized the bibliographic information of the articles related to CD biologic therapy, and explored the research hotspots.

RESULTS

The top 100 highest-cited original articles were identified with total citations ranging from 307 to 2978. The 2000s (Period II, n = 66) yielded the most influential original articles and saw the most dramatic growth. Among the top 10 countries, including 8 European countries and 2 North American countries, the United States (n = 37) and Belgium (n = 20) contributed the most publications. Among the top 10 institutions, the University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium (n = 23), the University of Chicago in the United States (n = 20), and the Mayo Clinic in the United States (n = 17) published the most papers. Regarding authors, Rutgeerts P in Belgium (n = 32), Sandborn WJ in the United States (n = 23), and Feagan BG in Canada (n = 18) published the highest number of studies. The cooperation relationships between the United States and Europe were most frequent. Gastroenterology (impact factor = 22.682) published the most articles on biologic therapy for CD (n = 32) with 17654 total citations. Anti-tumor necrosis factor biologics and monoclonal antibodies were the most studied topics.

CONCLUSION

The bibliometric analysis emphasized the key contributions to the development of the specialized field. These data would provide useful research insights into biologic therapy for CD for clinicians and researchers.

The 100 top-cited articles in diabetic kidney disease: a bibliometric analysis

Background

Tremendous scientific researches have been conducted in the field of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), while few bibliometric analyses have been performed. We aim to identify 100 top-cited published articles about DKD and analyze their main characteristics quantitatively.

Methods

Web of Science was searched with the term ‘diabetic kidney disease’ OR ‘diabetic nephropathy’ to identify the top 100 most cited articles. For articles meeting the predefined criteria, the following data were extracted and analyzed: citation ranking, publication year, publication journal, journal impact factor, country and institution, authors, study type, and keywords.

Results

The highest number of citations was 4753 times. The median average citations per year was 21.8 (IQR, 16.6–33.0). Most articles focused on the pathogenesis and treatment. These articles were published in 25 different journals and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology published the greatest number (20%). Forty-three articles (43%) originated from the United States. The University of Groningen was the leading institute, contributing five top-cited articles. The most frequent first author was de Zeeuw (n = 4), followed by Parving (n = 3). There was no correlation between the average citations and the number of authors, the number of institutes, or the number of funds, respectively. Experimental animal study was the research type most frequently conducted (n = 30), followed by observational study (n = 24). Keyword analysis revealed transforming growth factor-β, oxidative stress, proteinuria, and renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system interruption are classic research topics. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, and anti-inflammatory agents are the emerging trends of DKD.

Conclusions

This bibliometric analysis helps in identifying the milestones, inadequacies, classic hotspots, and emerging trends of DKD. Pathogenesis and treatment are core themes in DKD research, while high-quality articles on the prediction and biomarker are insufficient. New analyzing metrics are needed to assess the actual impact of these top-cited articles on clinical practice.

Trends and hotspots of family nursing research based on Web of Science: A bibliometric analysis

OBJECTIVE

Family nursing is an essential component of nursing practice. The number of articles that researchers must be familiar with is increasing, along with the importance of selective searching and summarization. This study aims to explore the development trend and research spotlight through the analysis of literature related to family nursing from 1986 to 2018.

METHODS

Science Citation Index literatures about family nursing in Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) were searched by subject terms. The function of database document statistics and analysis, cite space visualization software and Excel were used to measure and analyze the included documents and draw the visualization atlas. Each article was evaluated for the following characteristics: authors, institution, country, keyword, reference, cited-author, cited-journal, grant.

RESULTS

A total of 1,224 literatures from 68 countries and regions as well as 1,749 research institutions, 331 journals, 833 funded institutions and 4,007 first authors and collaborators were included. There is an increasing trend in the amount of papers published in family nursing research. Among them, the United States (275, 22.47%), Brazil (196, 16.01%), and the University of São Paulo (63, 5.15%) share the highest number of publications. < JOURNAL OF FAMILY NURSING > (IF = 1.889) was the most published journal (126, 10.29%). BELL JM was the highest published author (29, 2.37%), SVAVARSDOTTIR EK was highly cited (181 citation). At present, the research spotlight in this field focus on the traditional research directions such as "NURSING", "FAMILY", "NURSE" and "CARE". But there are also new directions such as "QUALIFY OF LIFE", "PALLIATIVE", "CAREGIVER", "CHILD" and "DEMENTIA". The focus of research extends from "DRUGS, MEDICINE, CLINICAL, PSYCHOLIGY, EDUCATION, HEALTH" to "NURSING, SOCIETY".

CONCLUSION

Family nursing started late, and its exploration was limited. Although family nursing was growing in certain countries, the fields involved in the research are still relatively narrow and lack interdisciplinary cross-fusion. The research field of family nursing needs to be further explored and refined in future practice.

Chinese research into ulcerative colitis from 1978 to 2017: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Over the last 40 years, with accumulating evidence demonstrating a significant increase in the incidence of ulcerative colitis (UC) in China, the number of studies on UC has been rapidly increasing. But it still lacks a comprehensive meta-analysis of publications regarding UC for the last four decades in China. Thus, a bibliometric analysis of UC is warranted to investigate the trend and distribution of the publications on UC in China in recent years. And it is supposed that the number of the papers related to UC increased by year.

AIM

To investigate the current status of research output from Chinese studies related to UC during the period of 1978 to 2017, with special attention paid to the distribution of publication dates, journals, regions, and research organizations.

METHODS

Publications on UC were searched in the Chinese periodical database SinoMed from January 1978 to December 2017. The search term used for retrieval was “ulcerative colitis”. The language of the publications was restricted to English or Chinese. The studies have to be performed in China. Then, a bibliometric analysis was performed on the distribution of publication dates, journals, regions, and research organizations with EndNote, Excel, MySQL, and GraphPad Prism.

RESULTS

A total of 16257 papers matched the search criteria, which included 7561 papers published in core journals, 4641 evidence-based articles, and 4177 publications of randomized controlled trials. These papers were mainly published in Chinese Journal of Coloproctology, World Chinese Journal of Digestology, Chinese Journal of Digestion, Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine on Digestion, and Modern Journal of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine. In particular, the majority of these organizations were located in Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, and Guangdong Provinces which are rich areas or have the largest population per province. Most of these studies were conducted by academic institutions.

CONCLUSION

Over the past four decades, the output of research into UC in China has increased significantly, with academic institutions playing a central role in the academic field, but the number and quality of these researches vary substantially among different regions.