Evolutionary trend analysis of the pharmaceutical management research field from the perspective of mapping the knowledge domain

Abstract

BackgroundPharmaceutical management is a new frontier subject between pharmacy, law and management, and related research involves the whole process of drug development, production, circulation and use. With the development of medical systems and the diversification of patients’ drug needs, research in the field of pharmaceutical management is becoming increasingly abundant. To clarify the development status of this field, this study conducted a bibliometric analysis of relevant literature in the field based on the knowledge graph method for the first time and explored the evolutionary trends of research hotspots and frontiers.MethodsLiterature was obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace 6.2.R4 (Advanced), VOSViewer, Scimago Graphica, Pajek and the R programming language were used to visualize the data.ResultsA total of 12,771 publications were included in the study. The publications in the field of pharmaceutical management show an overall increasing trend. In terms of discipline evolution, early research topics tended to involve the positioning of pharmacists and pharmaceutical care and the establishment of a management system. From 2000 to 2005, this period tended to focus on clinical pharmacy and institutional norms. With the development of globalization and the market economy, research from 2005 to 2010 began to trend to the fields of drug markets and economics. From 2010 to 2015, research was gradually integrated into health systems and medical services. With the development of information technology, after 2015, research in the field of pharmaceutical management also began to develop in the direction of digitalization and intelligence. In light of the global pandemic of COVID-19, research topics such as drug supply management, pharmaceutical care and telemedicine services under major public health events have shown increased interest since 2020.ConclusionBased on the knowledge mapping approach, this study provides a knowledge landscape in the field of pharmaceutical management research. The results showed that the reform of pharmacy education, the challenge of drug management under the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation and the rise of telemedicine services were the hot topics in this field. In addition, the research frontier also shows the broad prospects of the integration of information technology and pharmaceutical management, the practical value of precision pharmaceutical services, the urgent need of global drug governance, and the ethical and legal issues involved in the application of artificial intelligence technology in drug design, which points out the direction for the future development of pharmaceutical practice.