Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has significantly impacted global healthcare systems, leading to substantial adaptations and challenges. Emergency medicine physicians have been at the forefront of managing this crisis, necessitating a surge in related research efforts. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of emergency medicine research related to COVID-19 to understand the evolving landscape and emerging trends. Systematic searches were conducted within the Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed databases using the query: ((“emergency medicine”) AND (“covid 19” OR “covid-19” OR “corona virus” OR “coronavirus” OR “SARS-CoV” OR “MERS-CoV” OR “COVID19”)) in the All Fields category. This search yielded 3,551 relevant results. Supplementary searches were performed using Carrot². The data were analyzed to identify publication counts, contributing authors, countries, journals, and key research themes. Additionally, Biblioshiny was used for the visual representation of the main themes and emerging trends, as well as for generating the word cloud. The analysis revealed a significant increase in emergency medicine research related to COVID-19 since 2020, with peaks in 2020 and 2021. Given the central role of emergency medicine in the pandemic response, it is expected that a significant proportion (68.1%) of publications originated from this field. However, beyond this expected distribution, this bibliometric analysis provides meaningful insights by highlighting key thematic trends within emergency medicine research, such as “emergency medicine” and “COVID-19”. These findings help in understanding the research focus, gaps, and evolving priorities in emergency medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. This bibliometric analysis highlights the critical role of emergency medicine research in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings emphasize the importance of continued interdisciplinary collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies to enhance emergency care. Sustained investment in global health initiatives and research funding is crucial for preparing for future public health challenges.

Key words: Emergency medicine, COVID-19, bibliometric analysis, SARS-CoV-2, research trends, pandemic response