Abstract
Background
The aims of this bibliometric analysis were (1) a longitudinal analysis of the publication landscape in the field of pain (1975–2020) and (2) to characterize the overall publication profiles for two selected journals: European Journal of Pain and PAIN® utilizing an automated approach.
Methods
Database searches in Scopus extracted all journals with ‘pain’ in their title. For the two specific journals, papers were manually/automatically profiled into preclinical, human and translational studies.
Results
A gross list of 64 journals in the field of pain consisting of both active and ceased journals in Scopus were included in this analysis which identified 62,565 papers with approximately 4000 papers published/year. These papers include 2759 and 9156 papers in Eur. J. Pain and PAIN®, respectively. Currently, there are 24 active ‘pain’ journals. Authors/paper increase from 2 to 7 indicating a development from mono-disciplinary to multi-disciplinary studies. The overall publication profiles assessing preclinical, human (experimental/clinical) and translational papers in Eur. J. Pain and PAIN® were almost similar (14%, 75% and 10% versus 26%, 63% and 10%). Papers have changed over the years from mono-disciplinary studies (e.g. behavioural studies) to multi-disciplinary studies (e.g. combined behavioural and cell studies). After optimization, the search model matched the manual screening by 100%, 98% and 96% for the preclinical, clinical and healthy volunteer categories.
Conclusions
Over the last 45 years, more than 60,000 pain-related papers have been published. Papers develop over the years from mono-disciplinary to multi-disciplinary studies. The overall publication profile including preclinical, human (experimental/clinical) and translational papers was almost similar in Eur. J. Pain and PAIN®.
Significance
The bibliometric analysis of a pain journal provides information on which specific areas of research are published, how this may have changed over the years and how a journal is positioned compared with other journals in the field.
The aims of this bibliometric analysis were (1) a longitudinal analysis of the publication landscape in the field of pain (1975–2020) and (2) to characterize the overall publication profiles for two selected journals: European Journal of Pain and PAIN® utilizing an automated approach.
Methods
Database searches in Scopus extracted all journals with ‘pain’ in their title. For the two specific journals, papers were manually/automatically profiled into preclinical, human and translational studies.
Results
A gross list of 64 journals in the field of pain consisting of both active and ceased journals in Scopus were included in this analysis which identified 62,565 papers with approximately 4000 papers published/year. These papers include 2759 and 9156 papers in Eur. J. Pain and PAIN®, respectively. Currently, there are 24 active ‘pain’ journals. Authors/paper increase from 2 to 7 indicating a development from mono-disciplinary to multi-disciplinary studies. The overall publication profiles assessing preclinical, human (experimental/clinical) and translational papers in Eur. J. Pain and PAIN® were almost similar (14%, 75% and 10% versus 26%, 63% and 10%). Papers have changed over the years from mono-disciplinary studies (e.g. behavioural studies) to multi-disciplinary studies (e.g. combined behavioural and cell studies). After optimization, the search model matched the manual screening by 100%, 98% and 96% for the preclinical, clinical and healthy volunteer categories.
Conclusions
Over the last 45 years, more than 60,000 pain-related papers have been published. Papers develop over the years from mono-disciplinary to multi-disciplinary studies. The overall publication profile including preclinical, human (experimental/clinical) and translational papers was almost similar in Eur. J. Pain and PAIN®.
Significance
The bibliometric analysis of a pain journal provides information on which specific areas of research are published, how this may have changed over the years and how a journal is positioned compared with other journals in the field.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | European Journal of Pain |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Pages (from-to) | 729-740 |
| ISSN | 1090-3801 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 27 Nov 2023 |