Global Research Mapping of Psycho-Oncology Between 1980 and 2021: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Background and AimPsycho-oncology is a cross-disciplinary and collaborative sub-specialty of oncology that focuses on the psychological, behavioral, ethical, and social aspects of cancer in clinical settings. The aim of this bibliometric study was to analyze and characterize the research productivity and trends in psycho-oncology between 1980 and 2021.MethodologyIn May 2022, the Scopus® database was searched for psycho-oncology-related publications using predetermined search keywords with specific restrictions. Lotka’s law was applied to check the authors’ productivity, while Bradford’s law was used to assess the core journals in this field. The data was analyzed for different bibliometric indicators in the Biblioshiny package, an RStudio tool for bibliometric analysis.ResultsThe initial search resulted in a total of 2,906 publications. Of which, 1,832 publications were included in the final analysis, published between 1980 and 2021. The analyzed publications were written by 7,363 authors from 74 countries and published in 490 journals. There has been a significant increase in psycho-oncology-related publications after 2010. The most productive year was 2021 (n = 365). The annual scientific growth rate was found to be 13.9%. The most relevant leading author in terms of publications was Luigi Grassi from the University of Ferrara, Italy (n = 42). Lotka’s law found that the number of authors declined as the number of papers written increased. The core journals were Psycho-Oncology, Supportive Care in Cancer, and Journal of Psychosocial Oncology. The most frequently used author’s keywords other than searching keywords were cancer, oncology, quality of life, depression, and anxiety. Recent psycho-oncology-related topics included mental health, COVID-19 infection in humans, people, pandemic, and tumor. The University of Sydney was the top-ranked institution. The leading country in terms of publications, citations, corresponding author country, and international collaboration was the United States of America (United States). The United States had the strongest collaboration with Australia and Canada.ConclusionThe research hotspots include mental health conditions and interventions in cancer patients. We identified international collaboration and research expenditure to be strongly associated with psycho-oncology research productivity. Researchers’ collaboration, which is visible among developed countries, should be extended to low-income countries in order to expand psycho-oncology-related research and understanding.

Global research trends in MERS-CoV: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis from 2012 to 2021

“…In this study, the USA was the most active and highly contributing country in MERS-CoV global research. The findings of the current study are in line with previously published bibliometric studies conducted in different research fields ( 39 – 47 ). The possible explanation for this is that the USA allocated a considerable budget to research, science, and technology, and strongly collaborated with other developed countries ( 23 ).…”

Core‐curriculum in psycho‐oncology: Towards the certification of the psycho‐oncologist profession

“…europsy.eu/). Luigi Grassi 1,2 Maggie Watson 3,4,5 on behalf of the IPOS Federation of Psycho-Oncology Societies'…”

Global trends in psycho‐oncology research investments 2016–2020: A content analysis

“…Annual funding totals did not significantly change between 2016 and 2020 despite the 3-fold rise in psycho-oncology publications during this time. 14 Despite the growth of research outputs, we are yet to see a significant associated increase in global investment in this area. However, it may take time for the increased research activity to be reflected in funding applications and awards.…”

“…13 The psychological consequences of cancer are now established as a domain of cancer research, with 1832 scientific papers published in the field between 1980 and 2021 by authors from 74 countries. 14 Publication numbers have rapidly increased since 2010 and continues to grow at an annual rate of 13.9%. 14 This is an area of oncology with huge impact both for patients and healthcare systems alike.…”