Scholarly Productivity in Physiotherapy from 1992 to 2022 in Pakistan: A Bibliometric Analysis Based on the Web of Science Database

Abstract

The best way to communicate and disseminate knowledge in a profession is through publications and research activities. Maintaining and developing the body of knowledge specific to physiotherapy is crucial for enhancing the current knowledge and supporting the idea of evidence-based physiotherapy practice. This study aimed to investigate the research output of physiotherapy professionals in Pakistan during the last three decades (1992-2022). The bibliometric analysis technique was adopted to conduct this study. Data from the Web of Science (core collection) was extracted in November 2022 via electronic searching using the query: ALL= (Physical therapy AND Pakistan OR physiotherapy AND Pakistan OR manual therapy AND Pakistan OR physical rehabilitation AND Pakistan OR Exercise therapy AND Pakistan. The search yielded 2, 390 articles that were published between 1992 and 2022. 508 relevant publications were finally selected for further analysis based on the study's inclusion criteria. The bibliometric analysis results highlighted that there has been a consistent rise in the number of published articles over the past 30 years, with the peak publication trend seen in 2020. The analysis also revealed the most productive authors, journals, and their co-authors' networking in this domain. The most frequently used author keywords and the most collaborative country in research with Pakistan were also identified. However, it was observed that there were specific clusters of research work; certain institutions and authors were very active in research, highlighting a somewhat non-diversified research activity in the profession. Furthermore, the articles were primarily published in Pakistan-based journals, indicating a limited spread of knowledge.

Keywords

• physiotherapy research
• manual therapy research
• scholarly productivity
• scientific output
• bibliometric analysis
• pakistan