Scientometric analysis of Indian Orthopaedic Research in the last two decades

This study aimed to examine India's orthopaedic research output during 2002-2021 to analyze the research characteristics and publication performances of leading organizations, authors, and cities, the core journals publishing research, broad subject areas, sub-specialties, and the classification by anatomical location, the subject areas of research using major keywords and the sources of funding and the extent of international collaboration.

India's orthopaedic publications data was identified and downloaded from the Scopus database ( https://www.scopus.com ) using a well-defined search strategy and keywords.

India's 4606 publications grew at a 20.8% annual growth rate and averaged 11.3 citations per paper. The 10.4% and 16.3% share of India's papers received external funded support and were involved in international collaboration. The USA and UK (31.8% and 21.3%) represent the highest collaborative share in India's international collaborative publications. AIIMS-New Delhi and PGIMER-Chandigarh produced a larger proportion of articles (5.2% and 4.3%) among contributing organizations. In terms of authors, R. Vaishya and S. Rajasekaran are the most productive ones, contributing 1.6% and 1.1% share respectively. Clinical studies, paediatric sub-specialty, and knee & leg anatomical location accounted for the largest share of papers (32.2%, 10.8%, and 7.5%).The most frequent keywords co-occurrences were "Orthopaedic Surgery," "Hydroxyapatite," "Biocompatibility," "Orthopaedic Procedures," "Bone," "Surgical Techniques," "Biomaterials," and "Osteosynthesis."

This study revealed the characteristics and trends of research and core publications from Indian authors and organizations identified in the last two decades. This research should provide useful insights into the research hotspots of India in the present, past, and future.