Research on Type 2 Diabetes in India During 1982 to 2019: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Assessment

Background: India has an enormous burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and this plays an important role in global T2DM research. However, the quantity and quality of Indian T2DM research remain largely unexplored. Objective: To provide a detailed analysis of Indian T2DM research output during 1982-2019 using select bibliometric indicators. Materials and Methods: Data on T2DM publications were retrieved from the Scopus database. The analysis focused on the quantitative output of Indian authors and organizations. The qualitative performance was assessed in terms of relative citation index, citations per paper, and highly cited papers. Results: Globally, 157 countries participated in T2DM research, producing 208902 publications during 1982-2019. India ranks in the ninth place in global output, with 7844 publications (3.75% share). Only 19.06% of papers had international collaboration, whereas 12% received funding. The leading productive organizations were the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Chennai, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh; whereas King Edward Memorial Hospital, Pune, AIIMS, New Delhi, and Fortis Healthcare, Gurgaon were the most impactful. The most productive authors were V. Mohan, S. Kalra, and A. Ramachandran. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome Clinical Research and Reviews, and Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research were the leading productive journals. Only 2.23% of publications were highly cited. Conclusions: Considering the burden of T2DM, India's research is lagging behind. Increasing national and international collaborations, active involvement of national and international funding agencies, and prioritizing research on youth with T2DM is the need of the hour.