Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41998439›Full record

ArticleJournal of religion and health2026

Trends and Thematic Clusters in Moral Injury Research: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Waseem Hassan, Lindsay B Carey, Timothy J Hodgson

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of religion and health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. 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

3 authors.

Waseem HassanInstitute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Lindsay B CareySchool of Psychology and Public Health,, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, and Centre for Ethics in Society, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Lindsay.Carey@latrobe.edu.au.
Timothy J HodgsonSchool of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Moral injury (MI) spans biological, psychological, social, and spiritual domains, yet systematic bibliometric evaluation remains scarce. A bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed publications containing "moral injury" (1992-2025) was conducted using three search strategies (i) Title-Abstract-Keywords (TAK), (ii) Abstract-only (AO), and (iii) Title-only (TO). Publication types, annual trends, and the performance of authors, institutions, countries, sponsors, and journals were examined. A total of 2,081 documents were identified, including articles (1,491), reviews (164), book chapters (193), and editorials (75). TAK yielded 1,655 records, AO 1,400 records, and TO 879 records, demonstrating notable variation in dataset size. Output remained limited until 2017, followed by rapid growth from 2018, peaking in 2025. The USA led global production, followed by the UK, Canada, and Australia. TAK analysis identified the most prolific authors in this review by country: in the USA, Maguen, S. (36) and Koenig, H.G. (34); in the UK, Greenberg, N. (37) and Murphy, D. (36); in Canada, McKinnon, M.C. (23) and Nazarov, A. (21); and in Australia, Carey, L.B. (13) and Nickerson, A. (10). Other top contributors by country are also identified. Within this study, prolific institutions included VA Medical Center, King's College London, Western University, McMaster University, Duke University Medical Center, and the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Prominent journals were 'Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy', the 'European Journal of Psychotraumatology', 'Traumatology', 'Frontiers in Psychiatry', and the 'Journal of Religion and Health'. Title-based co-word analysis (AO and TO datasets) identified ten thematic clusters covering psychological outcomes, military and healthcare contexts, ethics, assessment, and interventions. Analysis of the top 100 most cited papers highlighted five foundational themes in conceptualization, measurement, mental health outcomes, and treatment approaches. MI research expanded rapidly after 2018, emphasizing the need for methodological transparency through a bibliometric study across multidisciplinary fields. While not all authors/coauthors or their respective institutions and nations have been acknowledged within this analysis of MI research, nevertheless the significant leaders have been identified, as have a number of key research and clinical themes. Search strategy selection however, substantially determines dataset size, contributor visibility, and thematic representation, hence a number of limitations regarding this analysis are noted.

Indexed as

BibliometricsMoralsHumansBibliometric analysisBiopsychosocialChaplainCo-word analysisDSM-5-TRMoral injuryMoral problemSpiritual

Identifiers

PMID41998439

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.