BACKGROUND: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a great number of papers have been published in the pediatric field. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the worldwide research on COVID-19 in the pediatric field by bibliometric analysis, identifying publication trends and topic dissemination and showing the relevance of publishing authors, institutions and countries. METHODS: Scopus database was comprehensively searched for all indexed documents published between January 1, 2020 and June 11, 2020, dealing with COVID-19 in pediatric age (0-18 years). A machine learning bibliometric methodology was applied to evaluate the total number of papers and citations, journal and publication types, the top productive institutions and countries and their scientific collaboration, the core keywords. RESULTS: A total of 2301 papers were retrieved, with an average of 4.8 citations per article. Out of them, 1078 (46.9%) were research articles, 436 (18.9%) reviews, 363 (15.8%) letters, 186 (8.1%) editorials, 7 (0.3%) were conference papers, and 231 (10%) others. The studies were published in 969 different journals, headed by The Lancet. The retrieved papers were published by a total of 12657 authors from 114 countries. The most productive countries were the USA, China, and Italy. The four main clusters of keywords were: pathogenesis and clinical characteristics (keyword occurrences n=2240), public health issues (n=352), mental health (n=82), and therapeutic aspects (n=70). CONCLUSIONS: In the pediatric field, a large number of articles were published in a limited period on COVID-19, testifying the rush to timely spread new findings on the topic. The leading authors, countries, and institutions evidently belong to the most seriously involved geographical areas. A focus on the pediatric population is often included in general articles, and the pediatric research about COVID-19 mainly focused on the clinical features, public health issues, and psychological impact of the disease. CLINICALTRIAL: Not applicable.
The fast-motion research process about COVID-19 in children: a bibliometric review