Scientometrics
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 26, 2020; 8(14): 3021-3030
Published online Jul 26, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i14.3021
Bibliometric analysis of randomized controlled trials of colorectal cancer over the last decade
Chen-Yu Wang, Shi-Can Zhou, Xing-Wang Li, Bing-Hui Li, Jun-Jie Zhang, Zheng Ge, Quan Zhang, Jun-Hong Hu
Chen-Yu Wang, Shi-Can Zhou, Xing-Wang Li, Bing-Hui Li, Jun-Jie Zhang, Zheng Ge, Quan Zhang, Jun-Hong Hu, Department of Anorectal Surgery, Huaihe Hospital, Henan University, Kaifeng 47500, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Wang CY and Zhou SC contributed equally to this article; Wang CY designed the research, performed the databases search, and drafted the article; Zhou SC designed the research, repeated the databases search, and made critical revisions to the manuscript; Li XW, Li BH, Zhang JJ and Ge Z performed literature review, recorded and checked relevant information, and did statistical analyses; Zhang Q and Hu JH supervised the study and edited the manuscript; All of the authors approved the version of the article to be published.
Supported by Key Research and Promotion Projects of Henan Province, No. 202102310094; Wu Jieping Medical Foundation of Clinical Research Special Fund, No. 320.2710.1836; Henan University Graduate“Excellence Program”, No. SYL18060141; Henan Province Medical Science and Technology Project Joint Development Project, No. 2018020331.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised in accordance with this checklist.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jun-Hong Hu, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Anorectal Surgery, Huaihe Hospital, Henan University, No. 8, Baobei Road, Gulou District, Kaifeng 47500, Henan Province, China. hjh-8282@163.com
Received: March 26, 2020
Peer-review started: March 28, 2020
First decision: April 24, 2020
Revised: May 30, 2020
Accepted: July 4, 2020
Article in press: July 4, 2020
Published online: July 26, 2020
Processing time: 119 Days and 23.1 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

In the past decade, clinical research on colorectal cancer has made significant progress with deepening theoretical and molecular research on its pathogenesis. However, many randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shortfalls, such as lacking systematic methodological knowledge, insufficient sample size, etc.

Research motivation

Clinical colorectal cancer research in China has progressed, but the quality of RCTs is still low. Therefore, we compared the RCTs in China with those of other countries to identify deficiencies and improve Chinese research.

Research objectives

We used bibliometric analysis to evaluate the research status of colorectal cancer RCTs in China and abroad and provide references for the design, cooperation, and implementation of colorectal cancer RCTs in China.

Research methods

We retrieved the RCTs studies related to colorectal cancer published between 2008 and 2018 in PubMed and the Web of Science. The literature was independently screened and extracted by two investigators. The bibliometric methods were used for statistical analysis of the publication years, countries/regions, authors, institutions, source journal, quoted times, key words, and authors. We used Microsoft Excel 2013 and VOSviewer 1.6.4 software to analyze the data.

Research results

Colorectal cancer RCTs have shown an upward trend from 2008 to 2018. Most of the top 10 research institutions were from the United States and the United Kingdom, and most of the related research journals were sponsored by European and American countries. The 15 most cited studies were comprised of international multicenter clinical research, with few participants from Chinese institutions. Network visualization using key words showed that RCTs on colorectal cancer focused on screening, disease-free survival, drug treatment, surgical methods, clinical trials, quality of life, and prognosis. The results of the coauthorship network analysis showed that Chinese researchers are less involved in international exchanges.

Research conclusions

High-quality RCTs are increasingly favored by top international journals. There is a large gap between Chinese and international clinical research; researchers should gradually standardize clinical trials, ensure accuracy, strengthen international multicenter cooperation, and emphasize quality control.

Research perspectives

There is a large gap between Chinese and international clinical research according to our bibliometric analysis. Chinese researchers should gradually standardize clinical trials, ensure accuracy, strengthen international multicenter cooperation, and emphasize quality control.