Mapping trends and hotspots regarding clinical research on monkeypox: A bibliometric analysis of global research

Abstract

A large number of papers have been published since the discovery of the monkeypox virus (MPXV). In 2022, human MPXV broke out in the USA and many European countries, and on July 23 of that year, the World Health Organization declared the MPXV outbreak a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern." In this study, we performed bibliometric analysis of MPXV literature published in core journals of the Web of Science core Collection database, which was conducted on 956 articles from 2000 to 2022. We analyzed the publication country, subject category, main authors and institutions, research hotspots of important publications and research frontiers. Through the analysis of keywords co-occurrence, multi-cited literature and co-cited literature, the research hotspots and trends were summarized. This report revealed that MPXV research has focused on hot areas such as infection and vaccination. Since the 2022 human MPXV outbreak, researchers have increasingly focused on infection control, vaccines, and treatment of monkeypox. This article summarizes the research directions and hotspots of MPXV related literature since the 2000, and we hope to provide support and clear research ideas for the future research and prevention of MPXV in humans.