Identification of Cognitive and Social Framework of Tissue Engineering by Science Mapping Analysis

Abstract

In recent decades, tissue engineering (TE) has contributed to a revolution in clinical practice, becoming a cornerstone research area in current health sciences. This article presents a science mapping analysis aimed at elucidating the cognitive and social structures that underlie TE during its development from 1991 to 2016. A total of 41,588 documents retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection formed the TE literature corpus for this analysis. SciMAT was used to identify terms and concepts directly related to TE, and VOSviewer was used to visualize the global scenario of TE authors, institutions, and countries. Our results showed that cell research, the search for biodegradable scaffolds, and growth factors are the main vectors influencing the evolution of this discipline. The United States and China were the most productive countries. An analysis focused on citation counts showed a decrease in contributions from Asia during the study period. These results point toward the conceptual consolidation of TE and the existence of different patterns of publication, in which the United States tended toward international cooperation, whereas Asiatic countries showed a robust trend toward regional collaboration.

Impact Statement

This study evaluates the cognitive structure and social behavior of tissue engineering (TE) based on a science mapping analysis. Understanding the terms and topics that play a key role in the development of TE can help administrative authorities to better plan funding. Moreover, a better knowledge of collaborative networks in TE and the identification of potential new opportunities for collaboration may enhance synergies in scientific activities to implement future approaches to therapy.