Thirty Years of Publications in Suicidology: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

A quantitative assessment of publications in suicidology has not been conducted yet. Web of Science was used to identify publications on suicidal behavior between 1989 and 2018. 41,276 items were retrieved. Over 30 years, the number of annual publications has been multiplied by 6. Psychiatry and psychology were the dominant research areas. Three-quarters of all publications were produced by high-income countries. A significant gap between male and female researchers persisted over time. Reported funding was largely public with a significant share from the private sector. Overall, suicidology appears as a dynamic field of research. This study also underlines two priorities: bridging the gender gap and encourage research in low- and middle-income countries where 80% of suicides occur.

Keywords:

• Bibliometrics
• self-harm
• suicide
• suicide attempt
• web of science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Gilda POLIAKIN for language editing.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

All authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Louis-Paul Astraud

Louis-Paul Astraud, MD and Fabrice Jollant, MD, PhD, Université de Paris (Paris-Descartes), Paris, France.

Jeffrey A. Bridge

Jeffrey A. Bridge, PhD, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA; College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Fabrice Jollant

Louis-Paul Astraud, MD and Fabrice Jollant, MD, PhD, Université de Paris (Paris-Descartes), Paris, France.

Fabrice Jollant, MD, PhD, GHU Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Paris, France; McGill Group for Suicide Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, CHU de Nîmes, Nîmes, France.