A bibliometric study of the Journal of School Health : 1965–2014

Background As an important international journal in the field of school health, the Journal of School Health has drawn wide attention from researchers and readers around the world. Therefore, it is important to conduct a systematic retrospective study of the journal. With the aim of understanding the development of the journal and the evolutionary process of cooperative study of this field comprehensively, we employed bibliometric analysis using the articles published in the Journal of School Health from 1965. Methods Using bibliometrics, 5242 articles published in the journal were extracted and then analyzed using the visualization software CiteSpace III. Results The annual published amount of literature showed a declining tendency; however, the frequency of citation displayed an increase year by year. Among prolific authors, the number of reports published by JH Price, L Kann and RJ McDermott are at the top. Among the high frequency keywords used in the research journal, “adolescents”, “children” and “programs” have become popular in the journal's vocabulary. CDCP, Univ Texas and Univ Calif are positioned in the forefront of the involved institutions when ranked by degree of contribution. Conclusions The Journal of School Health provides an important platform for sharing research achievements and promoting cooperation in this field. The amount of articles published in the journal is continually improving; its cooperative research network promoted by famous scholars and institutions is forming. As more researchers and institutions join, the network will grow and relationships will become increasingly close. However, limitations to cooperation at the regional or interagency scope remain.