A decade bibliometric analysis of global research on leishmaniasis in Web of Science database

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is an extremely relevant tropical disease, with global distribution. It still remains a main public health concern in low-income countries, and it is necessary to support more research on this common disease. Thus, a bibliometric analysis of the global scientific production on leishmaniasis was carried out. METHODS: All the articles registered in Web of Science with the subject of leishmaniasis between 2006 and 2015 were analysed, using Pajek and VOS viewer as tools. RESULTS: 13,658 records in the field of leishmaniasis were indexed in the Web of Science database for this ten-year study period (2006–2015). This shows that studies on leishmaniasis have been growing, from 1071 in 2006 to 1537 in 2015. “Sundar S” is the most active researcher in the field of leishmaniasis, compiling and participating in 232 Articles. Brazil ranks first in scientific production, by performing 3315 studies on leishmaniasis. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia had the most collaboration in performing the studies of leishmaniasis with each other. In addition, PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES published the most articles, with 483. CONCLUSION: Our data shows an increase in the number of publications in the field of leishmaniasis. In addition, Brazil, USA, and India lead scientific production on leishmaniasis research.