ArticlePloS one2022
The General Growth Tendency: A tool to improve publication trend reporting by removing record inflation bias and enabling quantitative trend analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Global landscape and thematic evolution of glaucoma pharmacotherapy research (1996-2025): A bibliometric and science mapping analysis.International ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Mapping the global landscape of algae-based food research: A bibliometric analysis of trends, collaborations, and future directions.MethodsX · 2026Article
- Emerging modalities for neuroprognostication in neonatal encephalopathy: harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence.Pediatric research · 2025Review
- Defining Effect Size Standards in Temporomandibular Joint and Masticatory Muscle Research.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Article
- Research Hotspots and Trends of Virtual Reality Intervention for Stroke: Bibliometric Analysis.JMIR serious games · 2025Article
- The impact of the early environment on oxytocin receptor epigenetics and potential therapeutic implications.Pediatric research · 2025Review
- Exploring Trends and Clusters in Human Posture Recognition Research: An Analysis Using CiteSpace.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Key actors in behavioral health services availability and accessibility research: a scoping review bibliometric analysis.Discover mental health · 2024Article
- Bioprospecting ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Global trends in wearable sensors for stroke motor rehabilitation: A bibliometric analysis.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The trend of the number of publications on a research field is often used to quantify research interest and effort, but this measure is biased by general publication record inflation. This study introduces a novel metric as an unbiased and quantitative tool for trend analysis and bibliometrics. The metric was used to reanalyze reported publication trends and perform in-depth trend analyses on patent groups and a broad range of field in the life-sciences. The analyses confirmed that inflation bias frequently results in the incorrect identification of field-specific increased growth. It was shown that the metric enables a more detailed, quantitative and robust trend analysis of peer reviewed publications and patents. Some examples of the metric's uses are quantifying inflation-corrected growth in research regarding microplastics (51% ± 10%) between 2012 and 2018 and detecting inflation-corrected growth increase for transcriptomics and metabolomics compared to genomics and proteomics (Tukey post hoc p<0.0001). The developed trend-analysis tool removes inflation bias from bibliometric trend analyses. The metric improves evidence-driven decision-making regarding research effort investment and funding allocation.
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Registered trials
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.