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Frontiers of ankylosing spondylitis research: an analysis from the top 100 most influential articles in the field

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Abstract

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that frequently results in disability. It has a negative impact on patients’ quality of life and puts an enormous budgetary and societal burden on society. The most effective treatment for AS has grown to be a significant issue worldwide. In order to pinpoint research focus and trends in this region, we performed a bibliometric analysis of the top 100 cited papers in this study. We searched the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded) on the Web of Science (WOS) and selected the top 100 cited papers based on AS. The pertinent literature from various years, journals, nations/regions, institutions, authors, keywords, and references were then examined. To construct knowledge maps, we used the VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Scimago Graphica programs. Excel was then used to compile the information from the pertinent literature that we had retrieved, and we were able to make predictions about the focus and trends that were currently occurring in the field. Between 1999 and 2019, the top 100 cited papers appeared in 23 journals from 36 different nations and regions. Annals of the rheumatic diseases published the majority of the articles, while Lancet had the highest average number of citations per paper. Germany contributed the most publications, followed by the Netherlands and the USA. In terms of the total number of publications, Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet contributed the most papers, followed by University Hospital Maastricht and Leiden University. The three major categories are Rheumatology, Medicine, General & Internal, and Genetics & Heredity, whereas the top 5 co-occurrence of keywords included rheumatoid arthritis, double-blind, disease activity, efficacy, and infliximab. The cluster analysis results indicate that inflammation and immunology, safe and effective therapies, and placebo-controlled trials may be focus and trends for future AS research. Bibliometric analysis can swiftly and visually identify the focus and boundaries of AS research. Our findings imply that inflammation and immunology, safe and effective therapies, and placebo-controlled trials may be focus and trends for future AS research.

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Abbreviations

AS:

Ankylosing spondylitis

USA:

The United States of America

Hla-b27:

Human leukocyte antigen B27

SCI-Expanded:

Science Citation Index Expanded

WOS:

Web of Science

TI:

Title

NSAIDs:

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the software of Microsoft Excel, CiteSpace 5.8.R3, and VOSviewer 1.6.18, Scimago Graphica 1.0.30, and the Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology (http://bibliometric.com/).

Funding

The National Natural Science Fund of China provided funding for this study (No. 82174491).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250355, China

    Xuhao Li, Wenyan Yu, Jinling Li & Jiguo Yang

  2. The First Clinical Medical College, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250355, China

    Zhixia Jia & Yuanxiang Liu

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  1. Xuhao Li
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Contributions

LXH conducted the study, produced the first draft, and updated it. The literature search, retrieval, and data collection were carried out by YWY, YWY, and LJL. The data visualization and graphical interpretation were carried out by LXH and YWY. LYX and YJG were instrumental in providing vital support or finance. Before submission, all authors contributed to and approved the final document of the paper.

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Correspondence to Yuanxiang Liu or Jiguo Yang.

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Li, X., Yu, W., Jia, Z. et al. Frontiers of ankylosing spondylitis research: an analysis from the top 100 most influential articles in the field. Clin Exp Med 23, 3019–3040 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-023-01102-4

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