30 years of parasitology research analysed by text mining

• Published in: Parasitology Vol. 147; no. 14; pp. 1643 - 1657
• Main Authors: Ellis, John T., Ellis, Bethany, Velez-Estevez, Antonio, Reichel, Michael P., Cobo, Manuel J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Antiparasitic agents; Bibliometrics; Citations; Data Mining - statistics & numerical data; Databases, Factual; Epidemiology; Exports; Immunology; Insecticides; Library catalogs; Malaria; Microscopy; Nematodes; Parasites; Parasitology; Parasitology - trends; Phylogeny; Trends; Tropical diseases; Vector-borne diseases; Brazil; Bibliometric analyses; database; topic models; science mapping analysis; publishing; trends; parasitology
• ISSN: 0031-1820; 1469-8161
• DOI: 10.1017/S0031182020001596

Bibliometric methods were used to analyse the major research trends, themes and topics over the last 30 years in the parasitology discipline. The tools used were SciMAT, VOSviewer and SWIFT-Review in conjunction with the parasitology literature contained in the MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and Dimensions databases. The analyses show that the major research themes are dynamic and continually changing with time, although some themes identified based on keywords such as malaria, nematode, epidemiology and phylogeny are consistently referenced over time. We note the major impact of countries like Brazil has had on the literature of parasitology research. The increase in recent times of research productivity on ‘antiparasitics’ is discussed, as well as the change in emphasis on different antiparasitic drugs and insecticides over time. In summary, innovation in parasitology is global, extensive, multidisciplinary, constantly evolving and closely aligned with the availability of technology.