• Knowledge Domain and Emerging Trends in Oral Cancer: A Scientometric Analysis Based on Iranian Publications
  • Maryam Zarei,1 Golbarg Mehdizadeh,2 Yasaman Mashayekhi,3 Raheleh Chamanro,4 Arash Ghazbani,5,*
    1. Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
    2. Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
    3. Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
    4. Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
    5. Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.


  • Introduction: Cancer of the oral cavity is the 11th most common malignancy in the world and is associated with low survival. Oral cancer has been reported as one of the top ten cancer types in Iran. Although important knowledge has been gained about oral cancer, current results from published documents are still under debate. Therefore, this research conducted to review the scientific progress of oral cancer via a scientometric evaluation to identify the future perspectives.
  • Methods: In order to retrieve reliable data, Web of Science (WoS) database considered as the data source of the present study. Our search strategy contained keywords that were associated with oral cavity-related cancers which were selected from Medical Subject Heading (MeSH). Regarding the time of data collection, the timespan limited to all documents published before 2021 with at least one author affiliated to Iranian organizations. Bibliometric parameters at the level of documents and authors were assessed. Co-occurrence network analysis and visualizations were performed by VOSviewer v1.6.15.
  • Results: A total of 310 documents were retrieved from WoS. Original articles (75.48%) and reviews (15.80%) were the most common document types for Iranian publications. In total, documents on oral cancer by Iranian authors received 3015 citations. In results, the average citation per document was 9.83 (H-Index=27). Among Iranian authors, Khademi B. with 14 (4.51%), Kordi-Tamandani DM., Mohtasham N., and Shakeri MT, with 9 (2.90%), and Alaeddini M. with 8 (2.58%) documents were the most prolific researchers by the number of publications. A review on journals indexed in WoS showed that among the journals hosting publications related to Oral cancer by Iranian researchers, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention published the most significant number of documents 17 (5.48%). The co-occurrence network for keywords represented 4 publication clusters. The largest cluster was related to studies on pathological aspects of oral cancer, followed by epidemiological studies.
  • Conclusion: The present investigation showed that Iranian researchers have covered a wide range of oral cancer-related areas. Although a large number of research projects on oral cancer were epidemiological and pathological evaluations, it seems that oral cancer research in Iran is switching toward genetical, cellular and molecular investigations (such as investigations on miR-100 and miR-125b expression) as well as research on oral cancer possible treatments. Based on the present results it is not unpredictable that research on oral cancer biomarkers and also, clinical research continue during future decades.
  • Keywords: Oral Cancer, Oral Neoplasm, Scientometrics, Bibliometrics, Co-occurrence Network