Visualizing the Knowledge Domain of Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Technologies: A Scientometric Review

The scientific literature of nanoparticle drug delivery technologies (NDDT) between 2005 and 2014 was reviewed. The visualized co-citation network of its knowledge domain was characterized in terms of thematic concentrations of co-cited references and emerging trends of surging keywords and citations to references through a scientometric review. The combined dataset of 25,171 bibliographic records were constructed through topic search and citation expansion to ensure adequate coverage of the field. While research in gold nanoparticle and magnetic nanoparticle remains the two most prominent knowledge domains in the NDDT field, research related to clinical and therapeutic applications has experienced a considerable growth. In particular, clinical and therapeutic developments in NDDT have demonstrated profound connections with the mesoporous silica nanoparticle research and microcrystal research. A rapid adaptation of mesoporous silica-based nanomaterials and rare earth fluoride nano-/microcrystal in NDDT is evident. Innovative strategies have been employed to exploit the multicomponent, chemical synthesis, surface modification, and controlled release imparting functionalized targeting capabilities. This study not only facilitated the connection of authors and research themes in the NDDT community, but also demonstrated how research interests and trends evolve over time, which greatly contributes to our understanding of the NDDT knowledge domains.