Bibliometric analysis and mapping knowledge domain of pterygium: 2000-2019
Authors:   Department of Ophthalmology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Eye Hospital of China Medical University, the Key Laboratory of Lens in Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China, Wang Yu-Chi , Liu Qian ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Eye Hospital of China Medical University, the Key Laboratory of Lens in Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China, Yu Zi-Yan ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Eye Hospital of China Medical University, the Key Laboratory of Lens in Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China, Wang Jing ,   Cataract Centre, Shenyang Aier Excellent Eye Hospital, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China; Aier School of Ophthalmology, Central South University, Changsha 410000, Hunan Province, China, Zhang Jin-Song ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Eye Hospital of China Medical University, the Key Laboratory of Lens in Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China; Cataract Centre, Shenyang Aier Excellent Eye Hospital, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China; Aier School of Ophthalmology, Central South University, Changsha 410000, Hunan Province, China
Published: May 2021

AIM: To track the knowledge structure, topics in focus, and trends in emerging research in pterygium in the past 20y.
METHODS: Base on the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC), studies related to pterygium in the past 20y from 2000-2019 have been included. With the help of VOSviewer software, a knowledge map was constructed and the distribution of countries, institutions, journals, and authors in the field of pterygium noted. Meanwhile, using co-citation analysis of references and co-occurrence analysis of keywords, we identified basis and hotspots, thereby obtaining an overview of this field.
RESULTS: The search retrieved 1516 publications from WoSCC on pterygium published between 2000 and 2019. In the past two decades, the annual number of publications is on the rise and fluctuated a little. Most productive institutions are from Singapore but the most prolific and active country is the United States. Journal Cornea published the most articles and Coroneo MT contributed the most publications on pterygium. From co-occurrence analysis, the keywords formed 3 clusters: 1) surgical therapeutic techniques and adjuvant of pterygium, 2) occurrence process and pathogenesis of pterygium, and 3) epidemiology, and etiology of pterygium formation. These three clusters were consistent with the clustering in co-citation analysis, in which Cluster 1 contained the most references (74 publications, 47.74%), Cluster 2 contained 53 publications, accounting for 34.19%, and Cluster 3 focused on epidemiology with 18.06% of total 155 co-citation publications.
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the research of pterygium is gradually attracting the attention of scholars and researchers. The interaction between authors, institutions, and countries is lack of. Even though, the research hotspot, distribution, and research status in pterygium in this study could provide valuable information for scholars and researchers.