A bibliometric analysis of publications on gunshot wounds, 1980–2022

BACKGROUND: Deaths due to gunshot wounds (GSWs) have become an increasingly important public health problem in Türkiye and abroad. The aim of this study was to conduct a bibliometric analysis of articles about GSW. METHODS: Within the scope of the research, the Web of Science database was examined with the bibliometrix program. GSW, gunshot injuries, gunshot injury, firearm wound, firearm injuries, and firearm injury were used as keywords. RESULTS: As a result of the analysis, 1236 articles published in 479 different journals between 1980 and 2022 were reached. The annual growth rate of the articles was 6.69% and the average citation per article was 9.78. The United States of America (USA) (n=562, 45.4%), Türkiye (n=102, 8.25%), and India (n=42, 3.4%) were the top three countries with the highest publication performance. The top three most influential researchers are Elias Degiannis and Roger Saadia from South Africa and C. William Schwab from the USA. The most influential researcher of Turkish origin was Ersin Erdogan. “Journal of Trauma-Injury Infection and Critical Care,” “American Surgeon,” and “Injury-International Journal of the Care of the Injured” are the top three most influential journals in terms of the number of publications and citations. “Turkish Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery” from Türkiye is the eighth most influential journal. The most influential study in terms of citations was found to be the study titled “Firearm injuries in the United States” by Katherine A Fowler, published in Prev Med in 2015. CONCLUSION: As a result of the research, useful information has been revealed for researchers working on GSW. Being the first comprehensive bibliometric study in the field of GSW makes this research unique.