Trends in the St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) research literature: a bibliometric analysis

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) has been used in traditional medicine for centuries for different conditions, including kidney and lung ailments, insomnia, depression, and to aid wound healing. The objective of the present bibliometric analysis is to capture the characteristics of research publications on the topic of St. John's wort.

Searches were run on April 09, 2021, and results were exported on the same day to prevent discrepancies between daily database updates. Trends associated with this subset of publications were identified and presented. Bibliometric networks were constructed and visualized using the software tool VOSviewer.

A total of 1,970 publications were published by 5,849 authors across 961 journals from 1859 to 2021. Beginning in the late 1990s, a steep increase was found in the volume of publication on this topic. The journal that published the largest number of publications was Phytotherapy Research. The most productive countries included Germany and the United States.

The present study provides the characteristics of the St. John's wort literature that allows understanding of the past, present, and future of research in this area. It is a useful evidence-based framework on which to base future research actions and academic directions.