Evolving educational landscape in pathology: a comprehensive bibliometric and visual analysis including digital teaching and learning resources

Abstract

Aims Pathology education is a core component of medical training, and its literature is critical for refining educational modalities. We performed a cross-sectional bibliometric analysis to explore publications on pathology education, focusing on new medical education technologies. Methods The analysis identified 64 pathology journals and 53 key-words. Relevant articles were collected using a web application, PaperScraper, developed to accelerate literature search. Citation data were collected from multiple sources. Descriptive statistics, with time period analysis, were performed using Microsoft Excel and visualised with Flourish Studio. Two article groups were further investigated with a bibliometric software, VOSViewer, to establish co-authorship and keyword relationships. Results 8946 citations were retrieved from 905 selected articles. Most articles were published in the last decade (447, 49.4%). The top journals were Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (184), Human Pathology (122) and the American Journal of Clinical Pathology (117). The highest number of citations was found for Human Pathology (2120), followed by Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (2098) and American Journal of Clinical Pathology (1142). Authors with different backgrounds had the greatest number of articles and citations. 12 co-authorship, 3 key-word and 8 co-citation clusters were found for the social media/ online resources group, 8 co-authorship, 4 key-word and 7 co-citation clusters for the digital pathology/virtual microscopy/mobile technologies group. Conclusions The analysis revealed a significant increase in publications over time. The emergence of digital teaching and learning resources played a major role in this growth. Overall, these findings underscore the transformative potential of technology in pathology education.