Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Medical Education
Date Submitted: Feb 26, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Feb 26, 2024 - Mar 8, 2024
Date Accepted: Aug 19, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Knowledge mapping and global trends in the field of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination: a bibliometric and visual analysis (2004 -2023)
ABSTRACT
Background:
The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a pivotal tool for assessing healthcare professionals, playing an integral role in medical education. This study systematically explores the bibliometric profile of OSCE-focused research to identify trends and key contributors in the field.
Objective:
This study aims to map the bibliometric landscape of OSCE research, highlighting trends and key influencers.
Methods:
A comprehensive literature search was conducted for materials related to OSCE from January 2004 to December 2023, using the Web of Science Core Collection database. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were performed with VOSviewer and CiteSpace software tools.
Results:
Our analysis indicates a consistent increase in OSCE-related publications over the study period, with a notable surge post-2019, culminating in a peak of activity in 2021. The United States emerged as a significant contributor, responsible for 30.83% of total publications and amassing 44,051 citations. Co-authorship network analysis highlighted robust collaborations, particularly between the United States and the United Kingdom. Leading journals in this domain—BMC Medical Education, MED EDUC, ACAD MED, and MED TEACH—featured the highest volume of articles, while The Lancet garnered substantial citations, reflecting its high impact factor (to be verified for accuracy). Prominent authors in the field include Sondra Zabar, Debra Pugh, Timothy J. Wood, and Susan Humphrey-Murto, with HARDEN RM, HODGES B, and MILLER GE being the most cited. The analysis of key research terms revealed a focus on “education,” “performance,” “competence,” and “skills,” indicating these are central themes in OSCE research.
Conclusions:
The study underscores a dynamic expansion in OSCE research and international collaboration, spotlighting influential countries, institutions, authors, and journals. These elements are instrumental in steering the evolution of medical education assessment practices and suggest a trajectory for future research endeavors. Future work should consider the implications of these findings for medical education and the potential areas for further investigation, particularly in underrepresented regions or emerging competencies in healthcare training.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.