Application of bibliometrics in medicine: a historical bibliometrics analysis

Background The application of bibliometrics in medicine enables one to analyse vast amounts of publications and their production patterns on macroscopic and microscopic levels. Objectives The aim of the study was to analyse the historical perspective of research literature production regarding application of bibliometrics in medicine. Methods Publications related to application of bibliometrics in medicine from 1970 to 2018 were harvested from the Scopus bibliographic database. Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy was triangulated with the VOSViewer to identify historical roots and evolution of topics and clinical areas. Results The search resulted in 6557 publications. The literature production trend was positive. Historical roots analysis identified 33 historical roots and 16 clinical areas where bibliometrics was applied. Discussion The increase in productivity in application of bibliometrics in medicine might be attributed to increased use of quantitative metrics in research evaluation, publish or perish phenomenon and the increased use of evidence-based medicine. Conclusion The trend of the literature production was positive. Medicine was in the forefront of knowledge development in bibliometrics. reference publication year spectroscopy proved to be an accurate method which was able to identify most of the historical roots.