Maternal Health Maternal smoking during pregnancy: A scientometric analysis of the 100 most-cited articles

Abstract

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is a severe behavioural problem that raises significant public health concerns. A notable amount of research has been published, and its evolution based on citations, knowledge structure, and impact on the scientific community is not entirely understood. This study identifies and describes the top most frequently cited 100 articles on maternal smoking during pregnancy. The top 100 articles were identified using the Scopus data database. Metadata were collected and analysed using bibliometrix and R package. The 100 most-cited articles (83 articles and 17 reviews) were published between 1971 and 2018. Those articles were cited 28 550 times, with a mean number of citations of 285.5 and a range of 189 - 812. A statistically significant positive correlation was observed in the number of the articles and citations score per year (r=0.635, p<0.001). Fifty-eight of the articles originated from the USA, with 52 in single-country publications and 6 in multiple-country publications. These articles were published in 58 journals, and the American Journal of Epidemiology published the most significant number of articles (n=8). Analysis through source clustering using Bradford’s Law indicated that the top 7 journals are in zone 1 (core journal) for the fields. The most prolific author is Gilliland, with h_index 5. The highest frequency keywords are pregnancy, smoking, maternal smoking, asthma, prenatal, environmental tobacco smoke, infant, abruptio placentae, birthweight and child. Our study offers researchers a thorough examination of the traits of the 100 articles on maternal smoking during pregnancy that have received the most citations, and a way to pinpoint any remaining research gaps.