From skirmishes to protracted battles: a bibliometric analysis about
human beings and coronaviruses from 1991 to 2020
Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic (COVID-19) has caused
an unprecedented upsurge in the publication of scientific studies as the
global community has collaborated to control the spread of the disease.
Methods: We conducted a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the research
trends and identify the core content based on publication output, the
geographic distribution, collaborations and keywords. We searched for
articles published from 1900 to June 30, 2020 based on the Science
Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
in the Web of Science. Results: Our analysis revealed the following: (1)
The number of publications clearly increased after the severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
outbreaks and sharply increased during the COVID-19 outbreak. Compared
with SARS and MERS, COVID-19 generated a more dramatic and prolonged
upsurge in publication. (2) Compared with SARS and MERS, COVID-19 had a
more widespread and powerful effect on countries and territories, with a
rapid onset. Countries and territories engaged in more international
collaboration and communication to cope with the epidemics, and the
COVID-19 pandemic led to marked increases in research advancements. (3)
Based on the keywords, we found that multiple methods were used to
address the COVID-19 pandemic that were based on biology, especially the
immune response. Conclusions: Epidemics lead to an extreme acceleration
and changes in research.