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. 2022 Aug 18:12:960494.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.960494. eCollection 2022.

Publication trends of research on conjunctival melanoma during 1997-2022: A 25-year bibliometric study

Wei Xu  1 , Ludi Yang  1 , Shengfang Ge  1 , Shichong Jia  1   2 , Fen Gu  3
Affiliations

Publication trends of research on conjunctival melanoma during 1997-2022: A 25-year bibliometric study

Wei Xu et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Conjunctival melanoma (CM) is a life-threatening ocular tumor with a high rate of local recurrence and metastasis. Our objective is to analyze research trends in CM field and compare contributions from different countries, institutions and authors.

Methods: We extracted all CM-related publications published from 1997 to 2022 from the Web of Science database and applied Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer to review publication data, analyze publication trends, and visualize relevant data.

Results: A total of 708 publications were identified. The United States contributed the most publications (280) and citations (8,781 times) with the highest H-index value (47). The Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, British Journal of Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology and Cornea were the most productive journal concerning CM, and Shields CL, Shields JA, Jager MJ as well as Finger PT had published the most papers in the field. Keywords were classified into three clusters: clinical research, management-related research and genetic research. The keywords "primary acquired melanosis", "metastasis" and "BRAF mutations" were most frequently emerged. According to the average appearing year (AAY), targeted therapy (AAY of 2019.0) and nivolumab (AAY of 2018.7) were identified as the main focuses of the field in the near future.

Conclusion: In the past 25 years, the United States, Germany, England and the Netherlands held the leading position in the CM research. A group of scholars made important contributions to CM research and will continue to guide cutting-edge research. Treatments that have been shown to be effective for advanced cutaneous melanoma, such as targeted therapy and immunotherapy, are potential focuses for future CM research.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; conjunctival melanoma; immunotherapy; publication trends; targeted therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of CM researches inclusion process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Contributions to the CM research of different countries/regions. (A) The number of publications, citations (×0.05), and H-index value (×5) of the top 20 countries or regions; (B) histogram shows the amount of publications worldwide and the top four countries. Line chart shows the time course of RRI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Fitting curves of publications growth trends. (A) Global; (B) the United States; (C) Germany; (D) England; (E) Netherlands.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of journals and institutions focusing on CM. (A) Top 20 journals publishing the most papers in this field; (B) top 20 institutions publishing the most papers in this field.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The analysis of keywords in CM researches. (A) Mapping of the keywords in CM researches. All keywords were divided into three clusters and given different colors: management-related research (left in green), genetic research (right in red), and clinical research (up in blue); (B) distribution of keywords based on the average time of appearance. Red indicates recent appearance while purple indicates early appearance.
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