Bibliographic analysis of Clinacanthus nutans papers in Scopus database (2000–2019)

Abstract

Background: There has been an increasing trend in Clinacanthus nutans’ research, an important medicinal herb of Malaysia and Thailand, well known as an anti-viral, anti-cancer, and insect bite treatment. This study examines the trend in Clinacanthus nutans’ research from 2000 to 2019 and compares the contribution of research on this topic from different institutions and authors. Methods: Publications from the Scopus database were retrieved using keywords and identify top ten institutions/universities, list of prominent authors, top ten  journals that published research, top five influential articles, top fifty cited papers, and global distribution of publications on Clinacanthus nutans. Microsoft Excel 2016, Wordcloud, SPSS version 26, and GunnMap 2 were used to analyse indicators. A total of 167 articles were identified from the Scopus database. All research publications were screened initially. Five articles (n=5) were removed due to the unavailability of the full-text version of the article. 162 articles were included in the final study. Results: Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Journal of Ethnopharmacology published the highest number of articles on Clinacanthus nutans. Herpes, antioxidant, phenolic, flavonoids, cancer, antimicrobial were common keywords identified using a word cloud. Over the past 20 years, the literature on Clinacanthus nutans has continuously grown, with the rate increasing after 2012. Conclusion: The prominent research on Clinacanthus nutans was based upon their identified and isolated bioactive constituents, and there is a need for more research on clinical trials.