Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) Research in India during 1998-2021: A Scopus-based Scientometric Analysis

Introduction: Mucormycosis is a well-researched infection worldwide. The Indian contribution to global Mucormycosis research remains unevaluated. Materials and Methods: Elsevier’s Scopus database was used to retrieve Indian publications on mucormycosis during 1998-2021. The extracted data were analyzed in terms of the number of publications, citation metrics, top productive organizations and authors, research collaborations, and active journals, using appropriate bibliometric tools. Results: India produced 799 publications on mucormycosis during 1998-2021. The publications grew at 8.5% annually and 175.1% cumulatively and received on average 9.6 citations per paper (CPP). Only 8.7% of publications involved international collaboration. The most researched types of mucormycosis were pulmonary and gastrointestinal, while diabetes mellitus and diabetic ketoacidosis were the top risk factors studied. Most of the research focused on clinical studies and treatment, while genetics was the least researched aspect of mucormycosis. The top 20 of the 294 organizations and 384 authors that participated in research contributed 59.7% and 29.4% to the total national output, and 97.3% and 76.2% to total citations, respectively. The most productive organizations were PGIMER-Chandigarh, AIIMS-New Delhi, and CMC-Vellore, and the most prolific authors were A. Chakrabarti, M.R. Shivprakash, and J. Chander. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Mycosis, and BMJ Case Reports were the high-yielding journals, whereas Medical Mycology, Mycosis, and Journal of Postgraduate Medicine were the most impactful. Conclusion: Indian research in mucormycosis has shown consistent growth during 1998-2021. There is, however, a need to improve on collaborative research and focus on emerging areas such as the genetics of mucormycosis.