Global liposome research in the period of 1995-2014: a bibliometric analysis

In this study, we aim to evaluate the global scientific output of liposome research, and try to find an approach to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the current global research on liposome. Data were based on the science citation index expanded database, from the Institute of Scientific Information Web of Science database. Bibliometric method was used to analyze publication outputs, journals, countries/territories, institutions, authors, research areas, research hotspots and trends. Globally, there were 37,327 publications referring to liposome during 1995-2014. Liposome research experienced notable growth in the past two decades. The International Journal of Pharmaceutics published the largest number of liposome-related publications in the surveyed period. Major author clusters and research regions are located in the USA, Western Europe, and Asia. The USA was a leading contributor to liposome research with the largest number of publications. The Osaka Univ (Japan), Kyoto Univ (Japan), and Univ Texas (USA) were the three institutions with the largest number of liposome-related publications. Van Rooijen N (Netherlands) was a leading contributor to liposome research with the largest number of publications. The chemistry accounts for the largest number of publications in the research area of liposomes. A keywords analysis revealed that gene, drug delivery, cell and cancer were the research hotspots in the study period. The nanotechnology, drug delivery, small interfering RNA and cancer therapy received dramatically increased attention during the analyzed period, possibly signaling future research trends. Bibliometric method could quantitatively characterize the development of global liposome research.