Evolving trend of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in endodontics: A bibliometric study

Abstract

Introduction: Endodontics is rapidly evolving with the emergence of various research publications. The present bibliometric study aimed to identify and analyze the trends of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in endodontics. Materials and Methods: An electronic literature search using Scopus® and Web of Science databases was performed from January 2001 till August 2021. Only systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in English were retrieved. The following parameters were recorded and analyzed: Title, citation counts, authors, year of publication, institutions, countries, journals, type of article, source of articles, thematic categories, keywords, and source of fundings. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel software, Visualization of Similarities viewer software, and SPSS software with a significance level set at P = 0.05. Results: Among the 149 articles included, the top-cited article was cited 184 times with 27 of them receiving more than 50 citations. 17 authors have contributed at least four publications, and most of the papers were published in 2020 (n = 26). Furthermore, the number of articles published increased substantially over the two decades (P < 0.05), but the citation counts decreased considerably (P < 0.05). The International Medical University Malaysia and the University of Hong Kong published the most articles, while Brazil was the most prolific country. The Journal of Endodontics published the most articles (n = 46) and more than half of the articles were published in Quartile 1 and Quartile 2 journals. The bulk of articles were published dealing with clinical or radiographic outcomes. Conclusion: This study revealed significant information on the trends of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in endodontics providing a comprehensive understanding and direction of future research.