ArticlePloS one2023
Disciplinary trends in the use of the Delphi method: A bibliometric analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 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
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Best Practices for Integrating Early Relational Health Programs in Pediatric Primary Care: A Modified Delphi Process.Academic pediatrics · 2026Article
- Off to a good start: current gaps and priorities in early-life microbiome research.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- GNRI-stratified enteral nutrition protocol for elderly mechanically ventilated ICU patients: development and preliminary application.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- The Nurse Resilience Scale (NuRSe): Development and Content Validation.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
- Strategic equity compensation: A delphi-AHP approach to industry-specific governance design for RSUs.PloS one · 2026Article
- Participants' experiences with the Delphi method: an online evaluation of a three-round Delphi across German-speaking countries.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Protocol for a modified Delphi study of ethical oversight of data science health research (DSHR).BMJ open · 2025Article
- Research on the evaluation of undergraduate students' core competencies in the context of industry-education integration.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Delphi Consensus in Otolaryngology: A Systematic Review of Reliability and Reporting Completeness.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Review
- Developing the FIGO-IPPS "R U MOVVING SOMe" classification system for female chronic pelvic pain.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- Multidisciplinary consensus on the management of patients with osteopenia and fracture risk in Spain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Consensus on Key Attributes of Cardiac Surgeons' Intraoperative Performance.Journal of surgical education · 2025Article
- Development of indicator system for early warning of clinical nursing critical values in general wards: a Delphi study.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Construction of a home-based self-management program for patients with indwelling peripherally inserted central catheter based on the IMB model.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Mobile Rehabilitation: State of the Science Conference Report-Future Directions for mRehab for People with Disabilities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Development, validity, and reliability testing of a research readiness self-evaluation scale with nurses: A cross-sectional study.Medicine · 2025Article
- A Delphi-based framework for optimizing nurse staffing in Chinese hospitals.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Barriers to physical activity and patient profiling in the lifelong maintenance phase of coronary artery disease: a territorial mixed-methods pilot study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Article
- Investigative genetic genealogy practices warranting policy attention: Results of a modified policy Delphi.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- An Evidence-Based Exercise Program for Total Hip Arthroplasty Rehabilitation in Geriatric Patients with Femoral Neck Fractures: A Delphi Study.Clinical interventions in aging · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Delphi method is an iterative, anonymous, group-based process for eliciting and aggregating opinion on a topic to explore the existence of consensus among experts. The year 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the first peer-reviewed journal article on the Delphi method. Originally developed for operations research, this method is now applied extensively by researchers representing diverse scientific fields. We used a bibliometric analysis to describe general trends in the expansion of its use across disciplines over time. We conducted a systematic literature search for all English-language, peer-reviewed journal articles on the Delphi method through its first 60 years. We found 19,831 articles: 96.8% (n = 19,204) on the actual use of the Delphi method in an empirical study and 3.2% (n = 627) describing, examining, or providing some guidance on how to use the Delphi method. Almost half (49.9%) of all articles were published in the 2010s and an additional third (32.5%) in the first few years of the 2020s. Nearly two-thirds (65%, n = 12,883) of all published articles have appeared in medical journals, compared to 15% in science and technology (n = 3,053) or social science (n = 3,016) journals. We conclude that the expanded use of the Delphi method has been driven largely by the medical field, though social scientists and technologists continue to be at the forefront of methodological work on the Delphi method. Therefore, we call for greater transdisciplinary collaboration on methodological guidance and standards for the Delphi method.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.