Bibliometric Analysis of the Top 100 Most Cited Publications from Saudi Arabia Reveals the Predominance of Medical Fields.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the citation impact, journals, international collaborations, trends of research topics and gain more visibility for the Saudi contribution to the global scientific landscape.

METHODS

This bibliometric study analyzes the top 100 cited publications affiliated with Saudi Arabia in Scopus, from inception to January 2026. The extracted bibliometric indicators include total citation metrics, sources, collaboration maps, and co-occurrence networks of keywords and collaborations.

RESULTS

The results indicate a strong predominance for medicine and health sciences as the subjects of the most prolific and significant number of citations. A substantial proportion of the most cited papers originates from major global health projects, in particular the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) consortium, which focuses on mortality, morbidity, and epidemiological metrics. Clinical and public health fields are highly represented, including obesity and cardiovascular risk, disease burden, and population health metrics. The most frequent journals include the leading medical journals in the field, namely The Lancet, Nature, Science and the New England Journal of Medicine. Keyword analysis confirms the dominance of medical themes; the most prominent keywords included epidemiology, risk factors, and global health indicators. Within the biomedical predominance, bioinformatics tools such as MEGA software contribute to the citation impact.

CONCLUSIONS

Saudi Arabia's citation impact is predominantly driven by international consortia participation and bioinformatics tool development, highlighting the opportunities for strengthening independent and nationally led research programs of global significance.