Bibliometric analysis of 50 years of publications in Skeletal Radiology (1976-2025): trends, impact, and global...

To conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 50 years of publications in Skeletal Radiology to evaluate publication trends, citation impact, authorship patterns, institutional contributions, international collaboration, and research themes.

Data were retrieved from the Scopus database on 1 May 2026, covering all publications indexed in Skeletal Radiology from 1976 to 2025. A total of 8258 documents were analyzed using VOSviewer for network visualization (co-authorship and keyword co-occurrence) and Microsoft Excel for descriptive and statistical analyses. Key metrics included total publications (TP), total citations (TC), citations per paper (CPP), relative citation index (RCI), and total link strength (TLS).

The journal demonstrated steady growth with an average of 168.5 papers per year and a 6.5% annual growth rate, peaking at 261.2 papers/year during 2016-2025. Scientific articles comprised 81.86% and reviews 10.01% of publications. The US led in productivity (4120 papers, 49.9%), followed by the UK (831) and Japan (464). However, Austria and the Netherlands recorded the highest citation impact. Prominent authors included D. Resnick (108 papers) and A. Saifuddin (175 papers). MRI, CT, osteoarthritis, and bone tumors emerged as dominant keywords. Highly cited papers focused on osteoarthritis imaging, meniscal pathology, and artificial intelligence (AI) applications in fracture detection.

Over five decades, Skeletal Radiology has established itself as a leading platform in musculoskeletal imaging, with increasing international collaboration and a clear shift toward advanced imaging technologies and AI. This analysis highlights key contributors, evolving research themes, and provides strategic insights for future directions in the field.