Bibliometric mapping of scientific research on prion diseases, 1973–2002

The purpose of the present study is to analyse and map the trends in research on prion diseases by applying bibliometric tools to the scientific literature published between 1973 and 2002. The data for the study were obtained from the Medline database. The aim is to determine the volume of scientific output in the above period, the countries involved and the trends in the subject matters addressed. Significant growth is observed in scientific production since 1991 and particularly in the period 1996–2001. The countries found to have the highest output are the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France and Germany. The collaboration networks established by scientists are also analysed in this study, as well as the evolution in the subject matters addressed in the papers they published, that are observed to remain essentially constant in the three sub-periods into which the study is divided.