Research on major depression in China: A perspective from bibliometric analysis

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a major psychiatric disorder with increasing research intensity. However, papers written in languages other than English are less accessible to international readers. This study examined the bibliometric features of English and Chinese language research papers about major depressive disorder in China. Methods: The Web of Science (WoS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched for eligible studies. Authorship collaboration networks and keyword co-occurrences were estimated and visualized. Results: There were 2,220 and 63,306 publications on MDD in the WoS and CNKI between 1990 and 2021, respectively. The number of papers increased annually during the period. For papers written in English, the Journal of Affective Disorders (201; 9.05 %) had the highest activity and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University had the most publications (232; 10.45 %). For papers in Chinese, the highest activity was with the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (1,025; 1.62 %) and the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (1,098; 1.73 %). Xiang YT (68; 3.06 %) and Yuan YG (179; 0.28 %) were the most productive authors in the English and Chinese languages, respectively. Keyword analysis showed that English and Chinese publications differed in emphasis (English: related psychiatric conditions, study design, clinical aspects, and assessment instruments; Chinese: somatic comorbidities, antidepressants, related psychiatric conditions, treatment of depression, and electrophysiological). Conclusions: The number of scientific papers on MDD increased yearly, and Chinese authors writing in English have an increasing influence. Except for a few authors, productivity and influence were dominated by national universities and specialized medical universities.