A Bibliometric Analysis of Body Donation Research (2006–2025): Perspectives From Medical Education, Ethics, and Policy

Body donation is fundamental to anatomical education and biomedical research. The field has expanded from technical dissection to include ethical, regulatory, and educational dimensions, yet a systematic bibliometric analysis of its evolution is lacking. This study maps the knowledge structure, collaboration patterns, and research frontiers of the English‐language body donation literature (2006–2025), focusing on the interplay among anatomical education, cultural ethics, and institutional governance. Publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection on August 5, 2026; 419 English‐language articles met the eligibility criteria. CiteSpace (v6.2.R3) and VOSviewer (v1.6.18) were used to analyze collaboration networks, cocitation structures, citation bursts, and keyword co‐occurence. Annual output increased steadily across three phases. The retrieved literature is concentrated in a small number of countries and institutions, a pattern inseparable from the language and database boundaries of the corpus, and collaboration is denser within regions than between them. Keyword co‐occurence produced five clusters, mapped onto three analytical domains: anatomical education, cultural ethics, and institutional governance, the last with no cluster of its own. Organ donation concepts are still frequently conflated with body donation, and research frontiers have shifted from gross anatomy pedagogy toward legal regulation and public willingness. Body donation research has evolved from a technique‐driven paradigm into a multidisciplinary field integrating humanistic care, legal frameworks, and educational innovation. Remaining gaps include the uneven representation of world regions in the indexed literature and the conflation of body and organ donation; both constrain culturally adaptable governance and anatomical education.