Abstract
Background: Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a major global health concern due to its pathogenicity and widespread distribution around the world. Despite a growing interest, little is known about the current state of research on COVID-19. This bibliometric study evaluated the contemporary scientific literature to assess the evolution of knowledge on COVID-19, identify the leading research stakeholders, and analyze the conceptual areas of knowledge development in this domain. Methods: Bibliometric data on COVID-19 related studies published until April 1, 2020, were retrieved from Web of Science core collection. Further, a quantitative evaluation and visualizations of knowledge areas in COVID-19 research were created by statistical and text-mining approaches using bibliometric tools and R software. Results: A total of 422 citations were retained in this study, including journal articles, reviews, letters, and other publications. The mean number of authors and citations per document was 3.91 and 2.47, respectively. Also, the top ten articles, authors, and journals were identified based on the frequencies of citations and publications. Networks of contributing authors, institutions, and countries were visualized in maps, which highlight discrete developments in research collaborations. Major areas identified through evaluating keywords and text data included genetic, epidemiological, zoonotic, and other biological topics associated with COVID-19. Conclusions: Current status of COVID-19 research shows early development in different areas of knowledge. More research should be conducted in less-explored areas, including socioeconomic determinants and impacts of COVID-19. Also, global research collaboration should be encouraged for strengthening evidence-based decision-making preventing and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and aftermath.
Highlights
Coronaviruses are RNA viruses widely found among many mammal species, including human beings[1]
This study aimed to address this knowledge gap and conducted a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the characteristics of the current body of literature on COVID-19, identify the prolific authors, institutions, and countries involved in COVID-19 research, and examine the evolution of key knowledge areas within COVID-19 related studies
The inclusion criteria for this bibliometric study was as followings: a) journal articles published on COVID-19 topic, b) language of the publication was English, c) articles irrespective of their methodology were included, d) studies published between January 1, 2019, to April 1, 2020, were included
Summary
Coronaviruses are RNA viruses widely found among many mammal species, including human beings[1] These viruses generally have low virulence, two epidemics by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) are considered as major public health events in the past two decades. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China[4] This outbreak was unique in terms of high pathogenicity and mortality compared to the earlier epidemics by coronaviruses[5]. Little is known about the current state of research on COVID-19 This bibliometric study evaluated the contemporary scientific literature to assess the evolution of knowledge on COVID-19, identify the leading research stakeholders, and analyze the conceptual areas of knowledge development in this domain. Global research collaboration should be encouraged for strengthening evidencebased decision-making preventing and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and aftermath
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