Global Governance and Corruption in Healthcare: A Bibliometric Mapping of Policy Challenges and Global Research Trends

ABSTRACT This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of scientific research related to the concept of corruption in the health sector worldwide, utilizing a scientific mapping method to compare the top 20 countries. The VOSviewer program was employed for bibliometric mapping. Scopus was searched using the keywords (corruption OR corrupt* OR bribery OR fraud OR kickback*) AND (“health care” OR healthcare OR “health system*” OR hospital* OR “health sector”) within title, abstract, and keywords fields. Primary data obtained from Scopus were organized for data collection, and all studies were included without restricting the date range. 8344 documents were identified. The study was limited to articles, reviews, book chapters, conference papers, and books, resulting in the inclusion of 7099 studies in English. Keywords frequently associated with corruption include governance, accountability, transparency, bribery, fraud, and ethics, revealing thematic clusters focused on health system integrity and policy reform. The substantial number of scientific studies conducted by developing countries underscores the significance and severity of the issue in these regions. Through the analyses and data, it is possible to observe the key outcomes of corruption studies and the focus of various countries on this problem.