RESUMO
AIM: To identify and assess the research situation of top 100 cited articles in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS: The global scientific research articles in the Science Citation Index-Expanded relevant to NAFLD were retrieved and listed according to their citation times from the most to the least. The 100 most frequently cited original articles were selected to systematically evaluate their bibliometric parameters including times cited, publication year, journals, subject categories, and the highly related concepts of NAFLD, which reflected the history and current situation, publication distribution of leading countries and institutes as well as the research hotspots of NAFLD. RESULTS: Top 100 cited articles in NAFLD were published from 1965 to 2015 with a citation ranging of 227 to 2151 times since publication, in which the United States was the most predominant country and Mayo Clin was the most productive institution. The majority of the top 100 cited articles were concentrated in SCI subject category of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Hepatology and Gastroenterology is the top journal that published over half 100 top-cited articles. The significant peak of top cited articles present in the first half of the 2000s while the highest mean number of citation presents in first half of the 1980s. In addition, concepts related to pathology characteristics, epidemiology and medicalization, metabolic syndrome and its combination of symptoms including insulin resistance, biomarkers of lipid metabolism and obesity are listed as the highly related concepts. CONCLUSION: The 100 top-cited articles marked with the leading countries, institutions, journals, hotspots and development trend in NAFLD field that could provide the foundation for further investigations.
RESUMO
With the globally increasing prevalence, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) becomes the predominant cause of chronic liver disease. A global look at the publication trends and the research hotspots of NAFLD are urgently needed to assess the situation of NAFLD research. The global scientific research in the Science Citation Index-Expanded covered articles relevant to NAFLD was retrieved and its bibliometric parameters and research hotspots of NAFLD were systematically evaluated. To sum up, 6356 articles were published in 994 different journals covering 93 SCI subject categories during 1986-2013, in which English was the most predominant language used. Starting from the late 1980s, the publication on NAFLD grew slowly and entered into a highly developing period in the 21st century, especially in the last decade. Besides hepatic steatosis, metabolic syndrome and its combination of symptoms such as obesity, insulin resistance are listed as the top frequent keywords. Bibliometric results suggest that the obviously rapid growth of the articles in recent years appears to be associated with the accelerating incidence of NAFLD and its cofactors such as metabolic syndrome. In addition, epidemiology focusing on comparing different regions and population is attracting ever-growing attention. Meantime, pathology plays an important role in NAFLD research.