Applicability of Lotka’s Law to Global Publications on Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Scientometric Analysis

Abstract

A recent study evaluated the applicability of Lotka’s Law in the context of global publications on spondylotic myelopathy from 2013 to 2022. Lotka’s empirical law of scientific productivity, particularly the inverse square law, was employed to analyze author productivity and assess the exponent value using tools like Bibexcel, VOSviewer, and MS Excel. The study revealed that 12,263 papers were published during the period, with 2021 marking the peak productivity year. However, Lotka’s inverse square law did not fit the dataset, as indicated by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test value of 0.217 with a 0.27 significance level. The findings highlighted that Fehlings MG emerged as the most prolific author, contributing 169 articles, while international collaborations significantly influenced research output. The People’s Republic of China led global contributions, accounting for 29.97% of publications. Language-wise, 99.2% of the research was published in English, with six languages represented overall. In 2016, single and multi-author collaborations achieved the highest Collaborative Author Index (CAI) score of 208.29, reflecting trends in authorship dynamics. The average authors per paper (AAPP) was 6.50 in 2013, and single authors dominated the research landscape. Analysis of citations revealed 736 citations and 1,079 cited references, with an H-index of 12. The keyword “Spondylotic Myelopathy” was the most frequently used, appearing in 97 of the 501 records analyzed. Despite confirming Lotka’s law in terms of author productivity trends, the inverse square law was not supported by the dataset. The study underscores the significance of global collaboration and author contributions in advancing research on spondylotic myelopathy.