Research trends and characteristics of oral lichen planus: A bibliometric study of the top-100 cited articles.

Background: Bibliometric analysis highlights the key topics and research trends which have shaped the understanding and management of a concerned disease. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the most-cited articles on oral lichen planus (OLP), and highlight the analysis of key topics and research trends.

Methods: A comprehensive search was performed and identified in the Scopus database from 1907 to 5 March 2019 for the top-100 most-cited articles on OLP.

Results: The number of citations of the 100 selected articles varied from 101 to 570, with a mean of 178.7 citations per article. Malignant potential, immunopathogenesis, and topical drug therapy were the top-3 study topics, and the majority of high-quality articles were the research of the 3 topics. Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine (n = 19) and Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Oral Radiology (n = 14) were 2 journals with the most articles published. Both van der Waal I. and Scully C. were the most frequently contributing authors (n = 9). United States (n = 27) and Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (n = 7) was the most contributing country and institution, respectively. Systematic reviews (n = 2), randomized controlled trial (n = 1), cohort studies (n = 17) were study designs with higher evidence level, but the large majority (n = 80) were considered lower level.

Conclusions: The results of this first citation analysis of the 100 most cited articles on OLP provide a historical perspective on scientific evolution, and suggest further research trends and clinical practice in the field of OLP.