A bibliometric review of unilateral neglect: Trends, frontiers, and frameworks

Owing to the adverse effects of unilateral neglect (UN) on rehabilitation outcomes, fall risk, and activities of daily living, this field has gradually got considerable interest. Notwithstanding, there is presently an absence of efficient portrayals of the entire research field; hence, the motivation behind this study was to dissect and evaluate the literature published in the field of UN following stroke and other nonprogressive brain injuries to identify hotspots and trends for future research.

Original articles and reviews related to UN from 1970 to 2022 were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science Core Collection. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix software were used to observe publication fields, countries, and authors.

A total of 1,202 publications were incorporated, consisting of 92% of original articles, with an overall fluctuating upward trend in the number of publications. Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States made critical contributions, with Neuropsychologia being the most persuasive academic journal, and Bartolomeo P. ranked first in both the quantity of publications and co-citations. Keywords were divided into four clusters, and burst keyword detection demonstrated that networks and virtual reality might additionally emerge as frontiers of future development and warrant additional attention.

UN is an emerging field, and this study presents the first bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of research in the field. The insights and guidance garnered from our research on frontiers, trends, and popular topics could prove highly valuable in facilitating the rapid development of this field while informing future research directions.