Trends and Thematic Clusters in Moral Injury Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics
• Psychotraumatology
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Moral injury (MI) research spans multiple domains but lacks systematic bibliometric evaluation.
• Understanding the landscape of MI research is crucial for identifying trends and key contributors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a bibliometric analysis of publications on moral injury (MI) from 1992-2025.
• To examine publication trends, leading authors, institutions, countries, and journals in MI research.
• To identify key thematic clusters and foundational concepts within MI literature.

Main Methods:

• Scopus-indexed publications containing "moral injury" were analyzed using Title-Abstract-Keywords (TAK), Abstract-only (AO), and Title-only (TO) search strategies.
• Publication types, annual trends, author, institution, country, sponsor, and journal performance were assessed.
• Title-based co-word analysis and citation analysis of top-cited papers were performed to identify thematic clusters and foundational themes.

Main Results:

• A total of 2,081 documents were identified, with rapid growth in publications observed from 2018 onwards.
• The USA was the leading country in MI research production, followed by the UK, Canada, and Australia.
• Ten thematic clusters were identified, including psychological outcomes, military and healthcare contexts, ethics, assessment, and interventions.
• Five foundational themes emerged from the top-cited papers, covering conceptualization, measurement, mental health outcomes, and treatment.

Conclusions:

• Moral injury research has expanded significantly, particularly after 2018, necessitating methodological transparency.
• Bibliometric analysis provides insights into key contributors, research themes, and the evolving landscape of moral injury studies.
• The choice of search strategy significantly impacts dataset size, contributor visibility, and thematic representation in bibliometric analyses.