Investigation of Global Trends in Publications on Syphilis with Bibliometrics

Abstract

Syphilis is a primarily sexually transmitted disease that has gained importance again due to the increasing number of cases worldwide. This study aimed to investigate at how scientific output on Syphilis has changed since 1970 globally. This bibliometric study was performed in the Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science (Wos) database by searching the ‘Treponema pallidum’ or ‘Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum’ or ‘Syphilis’ keywords. The research only included documents categorized as 'journal article' in the Wos database; reviews, letters, and editorials were excluded. Analysis was performed on articles published between 1970-2021. We compared the total global output relating to syphilis. We then looked at the contributions of countries, organizations, authors to the global output. Based on the search method utilized in this study, the findings revealed that 6747 articles on syphilis were indexed in the Wos database between 1970 and 2021. This articles were 96790 times cited (14.35 times average per item), the H-Index was 101. 57.329% of them were published after 2000s. Since 2015, the number of articles has never dropped below 200. The top cited articles were published in recent 20 years. The USA (35.230%) published most of the articles on syphilis. The People's Republic of China, England, the United Socialist Soviet Republic, Brazil, France, Australia, Canada, and Germany were also 10 ranked countries. The articles were from 181 countries globally. Publications and organizations providing financial support were from developed countries. However, researchers in developing countries should be supported to reduce the spread and mortality/morbidity of syphilis.