Status and Keyword Trends of Research Funding Articles in the Field of Optometry

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the status and keyword trends of articles in the ‘Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society’ and ‘The Korean Journal of Vision Science’. Methods: Of the 2,205 papers published from 1996 to December 2022, a total of 640 articles with acknowledgments related to research funding were analyzed on the status of research funding, support institutions, and keyword trends. Results: The results of the analysis of the status of articles with acknowledgments related to research funding by year showed that the number of articles tended to increase from 1996 to 2014, but have gradually decreased since 2015. The keyword trends related to research funding from the government were mainly related to the coating and refractive power of lenses, eyeglasses, and eyeglass frames. The keyword trends related to research funding from universities were mainly related to lenses and prescriptions for eyeglasses, contact lenses, and the optometrist system. The keyword trends related to research funding from industries/ corporations were mainly related to design of optical instruments or optical systems. Conclusions: Through the keyword trends related to research funding, we observe that each support institution’s preferred topics were different. The keyword trends related to research funding were utilized as basic data to help optometric researchers identify preferred topics for each support institutions and to set the directions for research funding.