Research on primary Sjögren's syndrome in 2004-2021: a Web of Science-based cross-sectional bibliometric analysis

The extent, range, and nature of available research in the field of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) have not been understood fully. This study aimed to map the literature available on pSS, and identify global hotspots and trends in the research. Papers on pSS published between 2004 and 2021 were searched from Web of Science Core Collection. The quantity and citations of publications, and the research hotspots and trends in the field of pSS were analyzed and presented visually by Microsoft Excel and Citespace software. A total of 3606 papers mainly from 526 institutions in 83 countries/regions were included for analysis. The number of publications presented an overall upward trend in the field of pSS from 2004 to 2021. The USA ranked first in the number of publications (n = 661), followed by China (n = 491), Italy (n = 405), France (n = 351), and Japan (n = 292). Moreover, seven of the top ten countries by the number of publications on pSS were from Europe. The University of Groningen (n = 661), Xavier Mariette (n = 95), and Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (n = 184) were the most prolific affiliation, author, and journal, respectively. Vitali C (n = 2009) and Arthritis and Rheumatism (n = 3918) held the record for the most cited papers by an author and journal, respectively. At present, the hot keywords in the field of pSS include disease activity, ultrasonography, management, consensus, and data-driven. Lymphoid organization, clinical phenotypes outcome, salivary gland ultrasonography, and Toll-like receptor are the emerging research trends in pSS. Research on pSS is flourishing. Current research of pSS mainly focuses on disease activity, ultrasonography, and management. While, the emerging research trends in pSS are lymphoid organization, clinical phenotypes outcome, salivary gland ultrasonography, and Toll-like receptor.