Knowledge mapping of immunotherapy for breast cancer: A bibliometric analysis from 2013 to 2022: A correspondence

KEYWORDS:

• Breast cancer
• immunotherapy
• bibliometrics
• citespace
• comment

This article responds to:

Knowledge mapping of immunotherapy for breast cancer: A bibliometric analysis from 2013 to 2022

To the Editor:

We have recently conducted a comprehensive study of the article titled “Knowledge Mapping of Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Bibliometric Analysis from 2013 to 2022” by Fanli Qu et al.¹ This study provides researchers with a deeper understanding of the research progress, subject evolution, and development trends in the field of immunotherapy for breast cancer. While this research holds great significance, we have identified certain areas in the manuscript’s information retrieval methods that can be improved. Therefore, we would like to propose some reasonable suggestions for enhancement.

When conducting bibliometric analysis, it is essential to develop precise and suitable retrieval methods. Typically, the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) is utilized for selecting raw data, which includes various sub-databases such as such as Science Citation Index extension (SCI-Expanded), SSCI, CPCI-SSH and so on. After reading some articles, we think that when retrieving and screening articles, selecting all the subdatabases it contains may not be accurate for this research field.² In comparison, SCI-Expanded is the most widely understood, utilized, and accepted sub-database. Therefore, we recommend that the author clearly specifies the sub-databases used in the retrieval strategy paragraph to ensure the accuracy of the retrieval process.

Secondly, some researchers consider that Topic Search (TS) is not suitable for bibliometric analysis.³ The “Keywords Plus” generated by independent WoSCC under automatic computer algorithm is not closely related to the author. After reading some bibliometrics articles, we think that it should be more appropriate to use “TI,” “AB” and “AK” as retrieval criteria.^4,5 At the same time, the author’s search strategy is relatively simple, and some related keywords may be omitted, resulting in no or too much retrieval of relevant publications. Our proposed retrieval formula is summarized in Table S1.

Through our search conditions and formulas, a total of 4528 related articles were searched from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2022. According to the selection conditions of the original authors, 4097 articles were selected, 3878 fewer than the original authors. We think the literature we screened out is more accurate and representative.

We provide the main information about the data in Figure 1(a). After optimizing the retrieval strategy, we observed a more accurate selection of literature and identified a shift in research trends compared to the original text. Our study demonstrates that Australia ranks sixth and Canada ranks seventh in terms of the number of publications, contrary to the original author’s conclusion (Figure 1(b)). Additionally, Biochemistry Molecular Biology ranks fifth and Cell Biology ranks sixth in distribution of publications across disciplines, contrary to the original author’s conclusion (Figure 1(c)). Notably, Sun Yat-sen University ranks third in active institutions (Figure 1(d)), while Sherene Loi ranks second among the top 10 active authors, differing from the original author’s conclusion (Figure 1(e)). Furthermore, articles published by Schumacher TN and Salgado R appear in the top 20 references with the strong citation bursts (Figure 1(f)). Simultaneously, by optimizing the retrieval strategy, we analyze the trend topics of immunotherapy for breast cancer and find that double blind, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy and cell-death are hot topics in recent years (Figure 1(g)). Lastly, we provide the Word Cloud (Figure 1(h)).

Figure 1. A bibliometric analysis of immunotherapy for breast cancer. (a) The overview of immunotherapy for breast cancer in WOSCC SCI-EXPANDED by “bibiometrix” package. (b) The top 10 productive countries/regions of immunotherapy for breast cancer. (c) The distribution of publications across disciplines. (d) The top 10 productive institutions of immunotherapy for breast cancer. (e) The top 10 productive authors of immunotherapy for breast cancer. (f) The top 20 references with the strong citation bursts. (g) The trend topics of immunotherapy for breast cancer (h) the Word Cloud of immunotherapy for breast cancer.

It is our assertion that through the implementation of our refined search methodology, we have successfully compiled a literature database of relative accuracy pertaining to the immunotherapy for breast cancer. It is imperative to acknowledge that substantial fluctuations in the volume of literature can greatly influence quantitative indicators such as annual publication rates, country, institution, and author rankings. This suggests the importance of developing precise and appropriate search formulas for bibliometric analyses. After enhancing the retrieval strategy, there is a significant improvement in the accuracy of literature retrieval, enabling a more precise reflection of research and development trends. Of course, the results of searches at different times will vary due to the database being updated at any time. The bibliometric analyses in the field of the immunotherapy for breast cancer by Fanli Qu et al. are groundbreaking. We congratulate Fanli Qu et al. on their achievement; however, we believe that our methodology can improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the data analyses in the related field.

Author contributions statement

Yandong Miao and Jiangtao Wang organized and designed the manuscript. Baifeng Lia and Kai Chenga organized and edited the retrieval formula. Ruochen Bao and Hongtao Qu wrote the manuscripts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used during the present study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website at https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2352278.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Shandong Province Medical and Health Science and Technology Development Plan Project [NO. 202209030830]. Scientific and Technological Innovation Plan Project for Medical System Staff in Shandong Province [SDYWZGKCJHLH2023031].