Type 1 diabetes in children: a scientometric assessment of Indian research output from 1990 to 2019

Background Pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an intensively researched disease in the developed countries. However, the Indian contribution to global pediatric T1D research is limited. Objective To provide a comprehensive analysis of Indian research on pediatric T1D over the past 3 decades. Methods Articles on pediatric T1D published from 1990 to 2019 were retrieved from Scopus database. Specifically, the data on number of publications, top productive institutions and authors, citation analysis, highly cited articles, international collaboration, and active journals were extracted and presented using appropriate bibliometric indicators. Results The USA leads the global ranking of 90 countries with 29.29% publications share, followed by the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Australia with 10.77 to 5.48% share. India is ranked 17th and contributed 1.98% to global output. India's publications averaged 9.74 citations per paper (CPP) compared to global average of 23.61. During 1990-2019, Indian research registered an average annual growth of 37.47% compared to global output of 12.45%. The most productive organizations were PGIMER, Chandigarh, and AIIMS, New Delhi, contributing 37 and 26 publications respectively. The most impactful publications were from MDRF, Chennai, and DRC, Chennai, with CPP of 20.36 and 19.56 and relative citation index of 2.09 and 2.01 respectively. Devi Dayal and V. Mohan were the most productive authors with 27 and 13 papers respectively. Conclusions Indian contribution to global scientific output on pediatric T1D is lagging in quantity and quality compared to developed countries but has shown improvement in recent years. There is a need for Indian researchers to focus on collaborative research in pediatric T1D.