Electromagnetic FIELD-INDUCED oxidative stress, inflammation, and APOPTOSIS: A BIBLIOMETRIC and KNOWLEDGE-MAPPING analysis

PURPOSE: Public and occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields has expanded over recent decades, while redox-mediated non-thermal mechanisms have become a major framework linking such exposure to biological effects. Despite extensive experimental research, the intellectual structure of this field remains insufficiently mapped. This study analyses global scientific production linking electromagnetic field exposure with oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Web of Science Core Collection was searched using exposure descriptors combined with redox, inflammatory, and cell-death terms. English-language original articles were included, yielding 2,169 documents published between 1989 and 2026 across 847 sources by 8,812 authors. Performance analysis, Bradford and Lotka modelling, h-, g-, and m-indices, co-word clustering, Callon-based thematic mapping, trend-topic detection, co-citation analysis, and collaboration network analysis were performed using the bibliometrix R package. China (343), Türkiye (317), and Italy (193) led corresponding-author output, while international co-authorship was 15.72%. Co-word analysis identified three clusters: oxidative stress and apoptosis occupied motor-theme positions, whereas DNA damage formed a peripheral, declining cluster. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation, ROS, pulsed electromagnetic fields, nanoparticles, hypoxia, male infertility, and ferroptosis emerged as recent research fronts, indicating a shift from genotoxic endpoints toward regulated cell-death and inflammatory signalling pathways.