Scientometrics Analysis of World-Wide Scientific Research Output on Treatment of Diabetes Using VOSviewer and R Biblioshiny Visualisation Tools

Abstract

This study conducts a scientometric analysis of global research on diabetes treatment from 2020 to 2024, It aims to examine the quantitative publication trends, identify prolific authors and core journals, map influential themes and scholarly networks, and visualize international collaboration patterns. Data were retrieved from the Scopus database using a comprehensive Boolean search string, refined by inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in 4,073 relevant documents. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny R were employed for advanced scientometric visualization and interpretation, including Thematic Map  co-authorship, co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling, and factorial analysis. The results indicate a steady increase in research output, with the highest relative growth rate is 0.792 in 2021, declining to 0.261 in 2024. Citation metrics showed that publications from 2020 had the highest impact of 17.53, while 2024 publications exhibited lower citation counts due to a shorter citation window. Co-occurrence analysis identified “type 2 diabetes,” “metformin,” and “glycemic control” as central keywords, reflecting thematic dominance in pharmacotherapy and complications. Thematic mapping revealed mature research areas (e.g., insulin therapy), niche topics (e.g., retinopathy), and emerging themes (e.g., diabetic foot ulcers). Co-authorship mapping identified Khunti K. and Ji Linong as key contributors, while Diabetes Care emerged as the most influential journal. Country collaboration networks showed the USA, China, and the UK as leading contributors, with the UK having the highest percentage of international collaboration of 48.7%.