Contact Tracing Research: A Literature Review Based on Scientific Collaboration Network

Abstract

Contact tracing is a monitoring process including contact identification, listing, and follow-up, which is a key to slowing down pandemics of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. In this study, we use the scientific collaboration network technique to explore the evolving history and scientific collaboration patterns of contact tracing. It is observed that the number of articles on the subject remained at a low level before 2020, probably because the practical significance of the contact tracing model was not widely accepted by the academic community. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an unprecedented research boom to contact tracing, as evidenced by the explosion of the literature after 2020. Tuberculosis, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases were common types of diseases studied in contact tracing before 2020. In contrast, research on contact tracing regarding COVID-19 occupies a significantly large proportion after 2000. It is also found from the collaboration networks that academic teams in the field tend to conduct independent research, rather than cross-team collaboration, which is not conducive to knowledge dissemination and information flow.