Kratom: A Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Publications

ABSTRACT

Kratom has caught the attention of governments, policymakers, and academicians due to its unique characteristics. This paper explores the scholarly works related to the different aspects of Kratom to elucidate its research progress and identify future research agendas. We reviewed existing publications on Kratom using a bibliometric methodology. By analyzing 431 scientific publications, we identified publication sources, document analysis, countries analysis, and research keywords, which helped us understand the research locus on Kratom. After reviewing the publications, we discovered significant disagreements in categorizing and defining Kratom amongst authors based on their nationalities. We also showed the knowledge structure of existing publications via thematic analysis, illustrating that the studies focused on the opioid nature of Kratom. Also, drug abuse-related issues evolved as the motor theme of research, while other aspects are prevalent as niche or emerging research themes. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a broad idea of existing literature and offering a comprehensive outlook on Kratom, which could be helpful for policy formulation in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Kratom
• Mitragyna speciosa
• bibliometric analysis
• literature review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For instance, an H-index of 10 means that an author has published at least 10 papers (quantity) and that have each been cited at least 10 times (quality).

2. Clarivate Analytics Company (Web of Science Group) Website: https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/web-of-science/; accessed on April 11, 2022.

Additional information

Funding

This research was conducted under the AADK 2021 Scientific Research Grant (AADK(S) 900-7/87), provided by the National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia.