Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28480437›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM2017

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ACUPUNCTURE RESEARCH FRONTS AND THEIR WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION OVER THREE DECADES.

Jun-Ying Fu, Xu Zhang, Yun-Hua Zhao, He-Feng Tong, Dar-Zen Chen, Mu-Hsuan Huang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jun-Ying FuTechnical Reports Service and Information Research Center, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, Beijing, P.R. China.
Xu ZhangTechnical Reports Service and Information Research Center, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, Beijing, P.R. China.
Yun-Hua ZhaoTechnical Reports Service and Information Research Center, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, Beijing, P.R. China.
He-Feng TongTechnical Reports Service and Information Research Center, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, Beijing, P.R. China.
Dar-Zen ChenDepartment of Mechanical Engineering and Institute of Industrial Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Mu-Hsuan HuangDepartment of Library and Information Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConsiderable research has been conducted on acupuncture worldwide. This study chronologically examined the changing features and research fronts of acupuncture and elucidated the differences among the six most productive countries.

methodsBibliographic coupling is a powerful tool for identifying the research fronts of a field. Acupuncture-related publications worldwide and from the six most productive countries during 1983-2012 were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Science Citation Index. To form the research fronts, the 100 most highly cited papers (HCPs) were clustered in terms of references shared.

resultsThe United States had the highest proportion of HCPs. The effectiveness of acupuncture in areas such as relieving neck and back pain, migraines and headaches, and knee osteoarthritis symptoms was a predominant topic. Initially, the endogenous opioid peptide system was the primary research focus in the acupuncture mechanism research; however, during 1993-2012, researchers focused more on the functional magnetic resonance imaging of brain activity. In addition, acupuncture use and prevalence, the attitudes of health practitioners, and the effects of expectancy and belief were also major topics. Researches from Western countries, including the United States, England, and Germany, showed more interest in clinical trials and economic- and ethics-related studies, whereas those from East Asian countries including China, Japan, and South Korea focused more on mechanism research.

conclusionWestern countries dominated the research fronts of acupuncture. The patterns of the research fronts varied worldwide, indicating continuity and innovation in research in each country.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyBibliometricsAcupunctureBiomedical ResearchHumansAcupunctureBibliographic CouplingBibliometricCountry DistributionResearch Front

Identifiers

PMID28480437
PMCPMC5412232

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.