Bibliometric Analysis of the 100 Most-Cited Articles on Periodontics in the Arab World

Abstract

Aim: Periodontics is a branch of dentistry that deals with diseases of the supporting and investing structures of the teeth including the gingiva, cementum, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone. The current study aimed to scrutinize the bibliometric indicators of the 100 most-cited articles on periodontics contributed by authors affiliated with the Arab countries.

Research methodology: The bibliometric research method was used for the 100 most-cited articles retrieved from the Scopus database on May 9, 2023. The keywords periodontitis, periodontology, gingivitis, periodontal, gingiva, and periodontium were inserted, and then the Arab countries were selected from the country's filter. The 100 most-cited articles were accessed. The bibliometric indicators such as periodic distribution of articles, their study design, nature of research, contributed by different Arab countries, international research collaboration, and author's used keywords were analyzed. Microsoft Excel version 16 (Microsoft Corporation, Washington, United States), VOSviewer (Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands), and SPSS Statistics version 27 (IBM Corp. Released 2020. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 27.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) were used for data analysis.

Results: A slow progress (4.50%) was found in periodontics literature before 2000 in the Arab countries, but a significant growth (75%) was recorded during the past 10 years (January 1, 2014, to May 9, 2023). The 100 most-cited articles on periodontics by the Arab countries were published from 1995 to 2021, and these articles gained citations with an average of 92.18 citations per articles. Case-control and review studies were the preferred study designs, and periodontology and implantology were the top two subject categories. About one-third of the articles were published in the Journal of Periodontology and the Journal of Clinical Periodontology. Saudi Arabia contributed the highest number of the most-cited articles, followed by Egypt and Jordan, but the articles contributed by the United Arab Emirates were the most influential. The United States and Germany were the top-ranked countries in international research collaboration.

Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that periodontics research increased remarkably during the past 10 years. Saudi Arabia stands not only on the topmost rank in overall research productivity in the Arab countries but also surpasses the rest of the Arab countries in the 100 most-cited articles. Saudi Arabia contributed 26 articles with the United States, while Jordan contributed the highest ratio of indigenous research.

Keywords: arab countries; bibliometrics; periodontics; periodontology; research productivity.

Figure 1. Screening process of the 100 most-cited articles in the Scopus database

Figure 2. Distribution of documents by the Arab countries (n=5243)

Figure 3. Periodic growth of articles by years with citation metrics