Characteristics of the Echinacea Spp. research literature: A bibliometric analysis

Introduction The herbaceous purple-petalled flowering plants of the genus Echinacea are from the aster family (Asteraceae). The majority of echinacea research is based on its purported ability to treat and prevent the common cold among many other upper respiratory tract infections. This bibliometric study aims to highlight the current landscape and impacts of available echinacea peer-reviewed publications. Methods Publication searches were conducted on August 10, 2022. To reduce discrepancies between daily database updates, results were exported on the same day. Publication search types were limited to only include "article" and "review.” From this subset of publications, identified trends were used to construct bibliometric networks via the VOSviewer software. Results Between 1915 and 2022, a total of 3727 authors published 1267 publications across 638 journals. Since the late 1990s, there has been an exponential increase in the volume of published echinacea literature. Planta Medica (n=44) was identified to be the journal with the most publications. The countries with the highest number of publications are: the United States (n=290), Germany (n=142), and Canada (n=125). The majority of institutional affiliations and funding sponsors were also based in these three countries. Conclusions This bibliometric analysis provides insights into the characteristic features of echinacea research publications. Given echinacea's therapeutic potential and its growing popularity among consumers, future research should continue to investigate trends associated with this emerging field.