A bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most-cited articles on keratoconus.

PURPOSE: To explore the characteristics of the top 100 most-cited articles on keratoconus research.

METHODS

The Web of Science database was searched to identify papers published from 1950 to 2020. A bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most-cited articles was conducted in the current study. The Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted to test the citation differences between basic research, clinical research, and reviews. The Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the association between citations and publication year. The VOSviewer software was used to create networks of co-authorship and keywords map.

RESULTS

The median values of the number of citations, citations/year since publication, and citations since 2013 were 186.5, 13.90, and 11, respectively. A total of 79% of articles were clinical research. Reviews exhibited a higher value of citations/year since publication and citations since 2013 than basic research (all P < 0.05). The number of publications, total number of citations, citations/year since publication and citations since 2013 on the top 100 most-cited articles list increased with an increase in the publication year in three article types (all P < 0.05). The Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery had the highest number of articles. There were 37 articles from the USA. Rabinowitz, YS was the most-cited author with the greatest total link strength. Extensive collaboration existed among the main core nodes containing "cross-linking," "refractive surgery," and "penetrating keratoplasty."

CONCLUSIONS

The present study focused on the comprehensive analysis of the top 100 most-cited articles on keratoconus research, providing insight into keratoconus research developments over the past decades.