The top 100 most-cited articles on kidney transplantation in the past 20 years: A bibliometric analysis

ABSTRACT Background Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for end-stage renal disease patients. Methods A bibliometric analysis was conducted. A total of 103,277 items in the Web of Science Core Collection published between January 2003 and July 2022 were identified. The top 100 published articles were selected using three distinct citation-based algorithms to reduce bias. Various bibliometric techniques were employed to synthesize and visualize the data. Results The final dataset of the top 100 articles had citations ranging from 199 to 1,287. Most of the articles were by American authors. The most productive organization was the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris. The largest number of articles appeared in the American Journal of Transplantation, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Transplantation; the American Journal of Transplantation publications had the highest cumulative citations. Conclusion This research provides a bibliometric overview of clinical kidney transplantation research over the past 20 years, identifying major trends. It offers crucial cross-sectional and prospective guidance for clinicians, funding agencies, and researchers. Future studies could build on this analysis to further explore the field of kidney transplantation.