Indian Research in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus during the Past Three Decades: A Scientometric Analysis

Background India plays an important role in global research on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), but a bibliometric assessment of this research is lacking. Objective To provide a comprehensive analysis of Indian GDM research during the last 30 years using select bibliometric indicators. Methods The Scopus international database was used to retrieve publication data, using a defined search strategy. The analysis focused on research output of Indian authors and organizations and their collaborations. The qualitative performance was assessed in terms of relative citation index and citations per paper (CPP). Results Overall, 100 countries participated in GDM research producing 13,193 publications during 1990-2019. India ranked ninth in global output (1182 publications, 3.1% share) and CPP of 18.6. Only 21.3% of publications had international collaboration and 9.4% were funded. Of the 235 organizations and 544 authors that participated in India's research on GDM, the top 50 organizations and authors contributed 53.8 and 36.4% to national publication share, respectively. The leading productive organizations were AIIMS, New Delhi, KEMH, Pune and PGIMER, Chandigarh, whereas the most productive authors were S. Kalra, V. Seshiah and C.S. Yajnik. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India and Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice were the most productive journals. Conclusions Indian research on GDM is lagging behind other countries which have a similar disease burden. Increasing national and international collaborations, and active support of national and international funding agencies is urgently required to produce quality research on GDM.