Trends in pediatric kidney stone research between 2004-2023: a bibliometric study

Aims: The purpose of this current investigation is twofold: first, to review the available literature published in the last twenty years on pediatric nephrolithiasis; and second, to evaluate the progression of research on this topic during the indicated period. In this respect, through bibliometric analysis the present study aims to reveal trends, crucial authors, important institutions and outstanding journals of this line of research. It also takes an attempt to compare the increasing trend of publication productivity and citation frequency and the distribution of the research outputs across the countries/regions of the world to map the progress and potential prospects of pediatric kidney stone research. Methods: The present study aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis of knowledge production. In pediatric kidney stone from 2004 to 2023 using WoS Core Collection. Articles were searched using the term “Kidney Stones in Children” including all articles, reviews and papers indexed, reviews and conference papers. The examination focused on the overall publication output, number of citations received, and journal citation; with methods including keyword frequency, bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis, and co-authorship networks. Element positions, co-occurrence frequencies, and clusters were developed from the data source by using VOSviewer software. The study covered publication distribution, citation behaviour, keyword frequencies, and collaboration map. Results: According to the presented research, the level of academic interest in this topic has risen dramatically over the years, and its popularity peaked in 2020. This result is expected because leading academic centres and name-referenced universities like University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia contributed significantly to the current literature. Ten most preferred journals are Journal of Urology, Journal of Pediatric Urology and many more. The findings reveal the overall international cooperation with especial emphasis on relations between institutions in the US and European countries. Carrying out the keyword analysis, authors have determined that “urolithiasis”, “nephrolithiasis”, and “kidney stones” are the most topical concerns. Aside from general surgery, much of the most frequently cited research is relevant to surgical practices and dietary recommendations. The purpose of this review is to enhance the understanding of the tendencies of the studies the most active contributors and cooperation patterns in the pediatric kidney stones. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis reveals a significant rise in pediatric kidney stones research, peaking in 2020. Key contributors include the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, with strong international collaborations. Original research articles and top journals, like the Journal of Urology, remain central. The U.S. leads in contributions, with notable input from Turkish institutions.