Neurosurgery Residency Theses in Türkiye: A Bibliometric Comparison Between the 2016–2020 and 2021–2025 Periods

This study aimed to bibliometrically evaluate medical specialty theses completed in the field of neurosurgery in Türkiye between 2016 and 2025, and to examine temporal changes in thesis numbers, topic distribution, and gender distribution of thesis authors. In this retrospective bibliometric study, neurosurgery residency theses registered in the Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center database between 2016 and 2025 were reviewed. The theses were divided into two periods: 2016–2020 and 2021–2025. Each thesis was evaluated according to publication year, topic category, and author gender. Thesis topics were classified into 11 main categories. Categorical variables were presented as numbers and percentages. Gender distribution was compared between periods using Pearson’s chi-square test. The overall distribution of thesis topic categories was evaluated using a 2×11 Pearson Chi-Square test. A total of 647 residency theses were evaluated. Of these, 224 were completed in 2016–2020 and 423 in 2021–2025. The number of theses increased by approximately 89% in the second period. The proportion of female authors was 12.9% in the first period and 13.7% in the second period, with no significant difference in gender distribution between periods (P=0.786). No statistically significant overall difference was found in thesis topic distribution between the two periods, χ²(10)=14.59, P=0.148. Neurosurgery residency theses in Türkiye showed a marked quantitative increase in recent years; however, this increase was not accompanied by a statistically significant change in author gender distribution or overall thesis topic distribution.