KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE OF LINCOMYCIN STUDIES: A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY OF SHIFTING RESEARCH PARADIGMS OVER SIX DECADES
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Abstract
Lincomycin is an important clinical and veterinary antibiotic targeting Gram-positive organisms with high tissue affinity. It is used to treat tissue infections in both humans and veterinary applications. Despite its long history of use and wide applications, no bibliometric study has assessed the full potential of lincomycin. Therefore, we aim to detail and highlight the emerging trends, areas, and gaps in lincomycin research. The Scopus database was used to retrieve relevant lincomycin records over the past six decades. We used both the VOSviewer software and the Bibliometrix R package to identify key indicators, such as institutional affiliations, keyword co-occurrence, country productivity, annual scientific production, and research themes and trending topics. The bibliometric analysis included 963 lincomycin-related articles across 452 journals, authored by 2,777 researchers, with an average of 16.05 citations per article. Scientific output showed an early surge in the late 1960s, followed by a long period of moderate activity and a renewed rise after 2012, peaking in 2023. The highly cited papers in lincomycin research reflect the multidisciplinary impact of this antibiotic, spanning plant photoinhibition, ribosomal binding, biosynthesis, veterinary therapy, environmental degradation, and analytical detection. International collaboration in lincomycin research was relatively limited, with only 6.75% of publications involving international co-authorship. Thematic analyses revealed a shift from earlier pharmacology topics to resistance-oriented topics and advanced analytics (LC–MS/MS), with aptasensor and electrochemiluminescence methods emerging as recent focal areas. Lincomycin research has gained focus since 2012, driven by increasing antimicrobial resistance and a shift towards biosynthetic optimization and advanced detection technologies.
JEL Classification Codes: C00, C88, I19, Q01.
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