Epigenetics research in eye diseases: a bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2023

ABSTRACT

Clinical relevance

A bibliometric analysis is a quantitative study that utilises methods such as citation analysis to evaluate research performance. A bibliometric analysis could provide a valuable reference for ophthalmic researchers to understand the trends in epigenetics research.

Background

The number of studies on epigenetics in eye diseases has exceeded 5,000, but the progress and scope of epigenetic research on eye diseases remain unclear. The study aimed to bibliometrically analyse epigenetic research conducted in eye diseases.

Methods

Studies concerning epigenetic research on eye diseases from 2000–2023 were searched using the Web of Science Core Collection. Following this, the included studies were analysed for citations, journals, keywords, authors, and countries, using the Bibliometrix package in R Studio.

Results

In total, 3758 studies were included in the analysis, including 3099 original articles, 599 reviews, 11 editorials, and 49 early access articles. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science was the most published journal with 185 articles, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America was the most cited journal, with 8727 citations. The journal with the highest h-index was Oncogene (h-index = 38).Renu A Kowluru from the Kresge Eye Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA, had the most citations with 1,690 and the highest h-index (h-index = 23). China and the USA were the countries with the highest number of publications (1739) and total citations (40533), respectively. Furthermore, from 2000–2023, the top five frequent research topics were diabetic retinopathy, 522; microribonucleic acid, 469; retinoblastoma, 370; apoptosis, 268; and epigenetics, 206.

Conclusions

The results of this bibliometric study provide the current status and trends of epigenetic research in eye diseases and will help researchers identify areas of current interest in the field, which should help highlight new research directions.

KEYWORDS:

• Bibliometrics
• diabetic retinopathy
• epigenetics
• eye diseases
• ocular surface
• ophthalmic research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

All data are incorporated into the article and its online supplementary files.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2023.2261929

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [82271050].