Global Research Trends in Nystagmus: A Bibliometric Analysis (1980-2024)

To provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global research on nystagmus from 1980 to 2024, highlighting key contributors, evolving themes, collaborative patterns, and future directions.

A total of 2,570 English-language articles and reviews with "nystagmus" in the title were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. Data were analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Microsoft Excel. Trends in publication output, citation impact, keyword evolution, and co-authorship were examined. Mann-Kendall trend tests and linear regression were used to assess changes over time.

Nystagmus research has increased steadily since 1980, with a significant surge after 2010 and peak output in 2021 (τ = 0.3509, P < .001). The United States led in publications (32.18%) and centrality (0.52), followed by Japan and England. Among 1,999 contributing institutions, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Case Western Reserve University were most productive. Authors such as Louis F. Dell'Osso, Irene Gottlob, and Ji-Soo Kim were prominent. Keyword clustering identified 10 thematic domains, with recent hotspots including infantile nystagmus, FRMD7 mutations, and optical coherence tomography. Citation burst analysis revealed both historic and emerging influential authors and topics.

This is the first study to systematically map the intellectual structure of nystagmus research over four decades. Findings underscore increasing academic attention, but also reveal fragmented collaboration and underrepresentation of low- and middle-income countries. Future efforts should promote global partnerships and integration of artificial intelligence, imaging, and genetics to advance diagnosis and management of nystagmus.