A Bibliometric Survey of the Medical Technology Literature

Abstract

In this study, the literature of the field of Medical technology was analysed using bibliometric and common statistical methods. The overall objective was to supply with structured information facilitating more detailed analyses as well as additional research questions. To this end, several appendices with complementary information were generated. Conceptually, the study comprised a descriptive part where the growth of the literature and the contributions of actors on both an organisational and a national level were studied, and a mapping part where the cognitive structure of the field was analysed on basis of citation links between papers. For the mapping part, a cluster analytical approach was applied and a network analytical tools for the displaying of clusters' structures. The findings were divided up in two main parts:•the Global view, and •the Local view, where the former denotes analyses and findings on a global level and the latter analyses and findings restricted to papers published by Chalmers University of Technology or University of Gothenburg. The period of observation comprised 25 years for the global part and all years for the local. All analyses were based on bibliographic data from Web of Science, Core Collection. Findings showed a North American dominance of the field for the whole period, but also an increasing Chinese influence during the middle and later periods. With regard to the cognitive structure on the global level, a large variation of topics were found, and a clear change of emphasis on topics over time. On the local levelthe diversity and variation of topics was considerably more restricted and emphasised dental research.