Trend and Geographical Distribution of Suicide Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Three Decades

Abstract

We aimed to see the trend and geographic distribution of suicide research. We searched in Scopus to identify the articles published on suicide since 1991 and compared the country-wise output in regards to income and geographical location of the country. The study revealed more than twofold increase of articles from an earlier decade and a slight increased output from low and middle income countries (LMICs) over the decades. More than three-fourths of the articles published from top 15 countries where only two countries (India and China) from LMIC backgrounds were featured. About 85% of the papers were published from high-income countries, about 73% of the papers were published from Europe and North America, and about 78% of articles were published from two WHO regions (European Region and Regions of Americas). This study identifies an extreme disparity in research on suicide based on income and geographical location.