ArticleAnnals of African medicine2026
The Current State of Global Scientific Production on Problem-based Learning in Medical Education: A Bibliometric Analysis.
Article in Annals of African medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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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
introductionProblem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered educational methodology that has been shown to promote clinical skills, critical thinking, and self-directed learning in medical education. This study aims to analyze the global scientific output on PBL in medical education through a bibliometric approach.
methodsThis is a descriptive and nonexperimental study with a bibliometric analysis of the articles published between 2019 and 2025 in the Scopus database. A search strategy using MeSH terms related to PBL and medical education was applied, retrieving 608 documents. Original research articles focused on PBL in medical schools were included. VOSviewer, SciVal, and Bibliometrix in RStudio were used for the analysis.
resultsAbdalla Mohamed Elhassan was identified as the most productive author, while Sibbald Matt Gary stood out for his highest relative impact. Maastricht University and Harvard University led in institutional productivity. The most relevant journals were BMC Medical Education and Medical Science Educator. National collaboration was predominant (40.5%), although international collaboration showed a higher weighted impact. Thematic clusters were identified, relating to students, curriculum, clinical competencies, and COVID-19. Journals ranked in Q1-Q2 showed sustained growth in publications.
conclusionPBL is an active and consolidating field in the medical literature, with a strong institutional and editorial concentration. The findings highlight a need for greater global collaboration and geographical diversification in the scientific output.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.