Bibliographic analysis of Clinacanthus nutans papers in Scopus database (2000–2019)

Abstract

Background:  There has been an increasing trend in  Clinacanthus nutans’  research, an important medicinal herb of Malaysia and Thailand, well known as an anti-viral, anti-cancer, and insect bite treatment. This study examines the trend in  Clinacanthus nutans ’ research from 2000 to 2019 and compares the contribution of research on this topic from different institutions and authors. Methods:  Publications from the Scopus database were retrieved using keywords and identify top ten institutions/universities, list of prominent authors, top ten  journals that published research, top five influential articles, top fifty cited papers, and global distribution of publications on  Clinacanthus nutans . Microsoft Excel 2016, Wordcloud, SPSS version 26, and GunnMap 2 were used to analyse indicators. A total of 167 articles were identified from the Scopus database. All research publications were screened initially. Five articles (n=5) were removed due to the unavailability of the full-text version of the article. 162 articles were included in the final study. Results:  Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Journal of Ethnopharmacology published the highest number of articles on  Clinacanthus nutans.  Herpes, antioxidant, phenolic, flavonoids, cancer, antimicrobial were common keywords identified using a word cloud. Over the past 20 years, the literature on  Clinacanthus nutans  has continuously grown, with the rate increasing after 2012. Conclusion:  The prominent research on  Clinacanthus nutans  was based upon their identified and isolated bioactive constituents, and there is a need for more research on clinical trials.