Global Trends in Highly Cited Studies in COVID-19 Research.

Importance: Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, an extremely high number of studies have been published worldwide, with variable quality. Research trends of highly cited papers may enable identification of influential research, providing insights for new research ideas; it is therefore important to investigate trends and focus on more influential publications in COVID-19-related studies.

Objective: To examine research trends of highly cited studies by conducting a bibliometric analysis of highly cited studies in the previous 2 months about COVID-19.