Exploring Evolutionary Medicine through Bibliometrics: Research Insights and Future Opportunities

Evolutionary medicine applies principles of evolutionary biology to elucidate the origins of human health and disease. Despite rapid growth since its emergence in the 1990s, the field lacks systematic bibliometric evaluation.

We conducted the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis of evolutionary medicine using the Web of Science Core Collection. Two search strategies captured general literature (n = 885) and publications from Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health (EMPH, n = 358). We analyzed citation patterns, thematic clusters, and collaboration networks using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer.

The field exhibits steady growth, with high citation impact from review articles and a dominant presence of contributions from the USA, UK, and Germany. Six major keyword clusters were identified: drug resistance, infection, evolutionary mismatch, cancer, cognition, and mental health. However, topics such as clinical translation, One Health, Planetary Health, and race-related issues remain underrepresented. Moreover, standard database queries failed to capture most EMPH articles, highlighting a lack of field identification in metadata.

This bibliometric overview reveals strengths and gaps in the evolutionary medicine literature. To enhance visibility, equity, and clinical relevance, future research should promote interdisciplinary integration, broader international collaboration, and more consistent field labeling in publications. These efforts are vital to advancing evolutionary perspectives in global biomedical and public health discourse.