Bibliometric Analysis of Research Assessing the Use of Acupuncture for Pain Treatment Over the Past 20 Years

Figures & data

Table 1 The 15 Countries Producing the Highest Number of Original and Review Articles Investigating Acupuncture for Pain Control

	Country	Records (n)	% of (4595)
1	USA	1412	30.7
2	Peoples R China	1111	24.2
3	South Korea	476	10.4
4	UK	443	9.6
5	Germany	310	6.7
6	Australia	239	5.2
7	Taiwan	214	4.7
8	Canada	201	4.4
9	Brazil	171	3.7
10	Sweden	139	3.0
11	Japan	128	2.8
12	Italy	109	2.4
13	Turkey	71	1.5
14	Switzerland	70	1.5
15	Austria	65	1.4

Figure 1 Number of publications investigating acupuncture and pain by year, over the past 20 years.

Table 2 The 15 Journals Publishing the Highest Number of Original and Review Articles Investigating Acupuncture for Pain Control

	Journal Title	Records (n)	% (of 4595)
1	Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine	357	7.8
2	Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine	239	5.2
3	Acupuncture in Medicine	224	4.9
4	Complementary Therapies in Medicine	120	2.6
5	BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine	96	2.1
6	Trials	88	1.9
7	Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews	83	1.8
8	American Journal of Chinese Medicine	76	1.7
9	Medicine	69	1.5
10	PLoS One	69	1.5
11	Acupuncture Electro Therapeutics Research	66	1.4
12	Pain	62	1.3
13	Clinical Journal of Pain	61	1.3
14	European Journal of Integrative Medicine	54	1.2
15	Pain Medicine	53	1.2

Table 3 The 15 Most Well-Represented Research Areas in Terms of the Number of Original and Review Articles Investigating Acupuncture for Pain Control

	Research Area	Records (n)	% (of 4595)
1	Integrative Complementary Medicine	1530	33.3
2	Neurosciences Neurology	899	19.6
3	General Internal Medicine	586	12.8
4	Anesthesiology	336	7.3
5	Rehabilitation	250	5.4
6	Research Experimental Medicine	224	4.9
7	Orthopedics	163	3.5
8	Health Care Sciences Services	146	3.2
9	Obstetrics Gynecology	132	2.9
10	Rheumatology	127	2.8
11	Oncology	124	2.7
12	Sport Sciences	118	2.6
13	Pharmacology Pharmacy	110	2.4
14	Science Technology Other Topics	106	2.3
15	Nursing	105	2.3

Figure 2 Analysis of keywords. (A) Mapping of keywords of studies pertaining to acupuncture and pain (categorized into three groups). (B) Distribution of keywords according to average publication year (blue: earlier, red: later).

Table 4 Top 15 Authors with Respect to the Number of Original and Review Articles Investigating Acupuncture for Pain Control

	Author	Records (n)	% (of 4595)
1	Lee H (Kyung Hee University, South Korea)	69	1.5
2	Lao LX (Maryland University, USA)	65	1.4
3	Lee MS (Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine)	65	1.4
4	Lee JH (Seoul National University, South Korea)	61	1.3
5	Macpherson H (University of York, United Kingdom)	59	1.3
6	Park HJ (Kyung Hee University, South Korea)	57	1.2
7	Ernst E (University of Exeter, United Kingdom)	55	1.2
8	Kaptchuk TJ (Harvard University, USA)	54	1.2
9	Yang J (Chengdu University, China)	45	1.0
10	Witt CM (University of Zurich, Switzerland)	42	0.9
11	Chae Y (Chengdu University, South Korea)	41	0.9
12	Liang FR (Cheugdu University, China)	40	0.9
13	Berman BM (Maryland University, USA)	39	0.8
14	Shin BC (Pusan National University, South Korea)	39	0.8
15	Lin JG (China Medical University, Taiwan)	37	0.8

Figure 3 Network map of study authors. (A) Of the 16,577 authors (classified into seven clusters), 46 had at least 15 publications. (B) Distribution of authors according to citations.

Table 5 Top 15 Organizations with Respect to the Number of Original and Review Articles Investigating Acupuncture for Pain Control

	Organization	Records (n)	% (of 4595)
1	Kyung Hee University	255	5.6
2	Harvard University	195	4.2
3	VA Boston Healthcare System	144	3.1
4	University of California System	124	2.7
5	Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine KIOM	123	2.7
6	China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences	120	2.6
7	Beijing University of Chinese Medicine	108	2.4
8	China Medical University Taiwan	108	2.4
9	University System of Maryland	103	2.2
10	University of Maryland Baltimore	100	2.2
11	Massachusetts General Hospital	92	2.0
12	University of Texas System	82	1.8
13	University of Exeter	79	1.7
14	Capital Medical University	77	1.7
15	Fudan University	76	1.7

Figure 4 Network map of organizational affiliations. (A) Of the 3899 organizations (classified into seven clusters), 53 were affiliated with at least 30 publications. (B) Distribution of organizations according to citations.