Research developments in pediatric intensive care nutrition: A research intelligence review

Pediatric intensive care nutrition is a growing research field on the intersection of three large research domains: Pediatrics, Critical Care Medicine and Nutrition & Dietetics. This study, using Research Intelligence tools, such as bibliometric network visualization software, was designed to map the developments in research topics and collaboration in the field over the past thirty years, and discuss how these developments align with recent recommendations and guidelines of the active expert groups in the field.

We searched the Web of Science Core Collection for relevant full articles, reviews, letters and proceedings papers. To describe the research field a search strategy was iteratively designed based on the combinations of relevant key words. The articles the were found were processed using software designed for bibliometric network mapping. Filters were applied to select only the most relevant articles for the field.

The resulting visualizations show the network of researchers active in the field of pediatric intensive care nutrition, and the collaborations between them. Using the most frequently used key terms a map was created to show the most prominent research areas within the field, and the development of attention for these topics over time.

The network analyses show a research field that is gaining momentum, with several cores of research activity in different institutions. Some research groups collaborate on specific topics within the field, while others seem to be more isolated. The analyses uncover the potential for future collaborations and emerging topics of attention in the different areas of research in the field. The results are compared to recent recommendations for research priorities by active networks in the field. We discuss similarities and discrepancies.