Bibliometric analysis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) studies published between 1980 and 2020

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), an acute respiratory failure caused by noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, was first defined by Ashbaugh et al. in 1967. The number of publications increased enormously after the Berlin definition of ARDS was first described in 2012.

This article intends to provide the physicians and the scientists with a reference guide to assess the most influential publications written about ARDS.

We performed an exhaustive bibliometric analysis to identify publication trends by year, and the most influential research articles, authors, co-authors, journals, and countries. Articles on ARDS published in Science Citation Index (SCI) and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) journals between 1980 and 2020 were examined. On December 20, 2020, the keywords "ARDS" and "acute respiratory distress syndrome" were searched using the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database, and data including titles, author information, abstracts, journals, and references were analyzed.

A total of 4564 articles related to ARDS published between 1980 and 2020 were identified. After excluding 192 proceedings papers, 19 early access papers, 1 book chapter, 1 research paper, and 1 retracted article, 4350 articles published in SCI and ESCI journals were analyzed. The largest number of articles (n = 557, 12.8%) appeared in 2020. The average citations per article was 38.21, and 4350 articles were cited 166,885 times altogether. The USA was at the top of the list of the most productive countries with 5025 articles. Harvard University was the most contributing institution with 244 articles. M.A. Matthay ranked as the most productive author in ARDS research with 87 published publications.

The present study provided a comprehensive, illustrative analysis of ARDS articles published in SCI and ESCI journals over the past 40 years.