JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The cadaver serves as a crucial resource in medical education, research, and clinical practice, as well as a vital foundation for fundamental medical experimental teaching.

Objective:

This study aims to employ bibliometric analysis to create a knowledge map of cadaver donation in medical education, identify global trends, anticipate future research directions, and offer a foundation for upcoming investigations.

Methods:

Articles and review papers concerning cadaver donation and medical education, with a final search cutoff of January 10, 2025, were systematically retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Two reviewers carefully examined the initial set of articles based on titles and abstracts to exclude irrelevant ones. The selected publications were then analyzed and visualized for country, institution, author, reference, journal, and keywords using CiteSpace 6.3R3, VOSviewer 1.6.19, and the Online Analysis Platform of the Literature Metrology Database.

Results:

Our analysis shows a steady rise in the total number of publications, with a significant spike after 2020, reaching its peak in 2024. The United States was a major contributor, accounting for 21.2% (303/1114) of all publications, while McGill University and The University of Sydney were the leading institutions. Prominent authors in this field included De Caro Raffaele, Macchi Veronica, Porzionato Andrea, Stecco Carla, and Dhanani Sonny. The most frequently co-cited reference was "Bodies for Anatomy Education in Medical Schools: An Overview of the Sources of Cadavers Worldwide." The journal Anatomical Sciences Education published the most articles in this area and received the highest citation count. Cluster analysis of keywords revealed that "kidney transplantation," "gross anatomy education," and "brain death" were key research topics, while burst analysis of keywords identified "public perception" and "anatomical science" as emerging areas of investigation.

Conclusions:

The study underscores the dynamic progress of cadaver donation research and global cooperation, focusing on important countries, institutions, authors, and journals. These elements are pivotal in driving the development of cadaver donation and shaping the direction of future research in medical education. Future studies should prioritize increasing public awareness of cadaver donation to further foster the expansion of medical education.