Bibliometric analysis of maternal infections: research trends and global contributions

Introduction: The aim of this study is to reveal the research trends, focal points, and current status of maternal infections in the scientific literature through bibliometric analysis, identify knowledge gaps in the field, and provide guidance for future research. Pregnancy is a period when susceptibility to infections increases due to physiological changes and weakening of the immune system. In order to gain a general perspective on maternal infections, in this study, we aim to make a bibliometric analysis of the literature related to maternal infections and explore the research status, hotspots and frontiers in this field in recent 10 years. Methods: In this bibliometric study, the data were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using the Title field search with the exact term “maternal infection”. Key parameters included citation counts, publication languages, journals, countries, and affiliations. The R-based Bibliometrix package and VOSviewer software (v1.6.18) were used for descriptive statistics and visualization of co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, and citation networks. A total of 16,496 open-access articles from 1,952 sources, authored by 82,420 individuals, were analyzed. Results: All studies were published in science citation index expanded (SCIˇEXPANDED) and social sciences citation index (SSCI), as a result of the Web of Science. The publications have been published in 13 different sources (journals, books, letters etc.), mostly original articles (%82). The average citations per document was 31.19. The top active author was Romero R, the journal was Plos One with 846 articles, the affiliation was University of London, and the country was USA. Conclusion: This study systematically maps global research on maternal infections, in the last 20 years . The findings highlight trends, key contributors, and thematic shifts, emphasizing the need for future research on underrepresented areas and collaboration across countries and disciplines.