A bibliometric analysis of the 100 most–cited articles on orthodontic retention and retainers

Bibliometric analysis can help identify areas within research domains where potentially impactful research has been carried out and can inform future relevant scholarly activity. Analysis of this kind has not yet been conducted in the domain of orthodontic retention and retainers. The aim of this investigation was to undertake a bibliometric analysis of the 100 most-cited articles on orthodontic retention and retainers. The study was carried out in accordance with the bibliometric reviews of the biomedical literature (BIBLIO) preliminary guidelines. A search of the Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics, Philadelphia, Pa) [WoS] database, via a customised keyword-based search string using Boolean logic developed in collaboration with a university librarian was undertaken. Two reviewers independently screened articles for inclusion and recorded relevant data from the WoS and Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics) databases. Additional analysis was via VOSviewer (Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands). The 100 included articles published in 21 journals or other sources and recorded a total of 9613 citations. The 2016 iteration of the relevant Cochrane review was the most cited article with 220 citations. The 100 articles were authored by 329 individuals, and more than half of the included articles were published in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (43%) and the European Journal of Orthodontics (16%). The United States (23%) was the country to which first named authors were most affiliated. Almost one in six (n=1449; 15.1%) of the total citations were associated with RCT articles, with 9.1% (n=872) of the citations related to systematic review articles and 875 (9.1%) citations allied with narrative review articles. The bonded retainer was the retainer type upon which most focus was applied in the 100 most cited articles. The relatively small number of connected authors suggested that there is room for increased collaboration between centres concerning orthodontic retention research.