Bibliometric map of 6,117 Caenorhabditis elegans aging articles, 1970 to June 2025
A bibliometric analysis of 6,117 articles on Caenorhabditis elegans and aging, published 1970 through June 5, 2025, maps countries, institutions, authors, journals and citation patterns; it reports a shift from insulin/IGF-1 signaling and stress-response themes toward thermal control and mitophagy. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
The bibliometric dataset comprised 6,117 articles published from 1970 through June 5, 2025, from 19,864 authors at 3,798 institutes in 91 countries. [1]
Annual publications increased from 312 in 2020 to 341 in 2021 and remained high thereafter; the United States led output, followed by China, Germany and the United Kingdom. [1]
Topic evolution indicated a shift from foundational IIS pathway and stress-response studies toward emerging themes such as thermal control and mitophagy in C. elegans aging models. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Bibliometric and visualization analysis (abstract)
- Population / context
- 6,117 bibliographic records on Caenorhabditis elegans and aging published 1970 through June 5, 2025
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Original publication
- May 22, 2026
Mapping 6,117 C. elegans aging records
The authors describe a protocol to retrieve records from the Web of Science Core Collection, process the data and produce reproducible visualizations with CiteSpace, Bibliometrix (R), VOSviewer and Pajek. The aim is to map the knowledge structure and identify emerging trends where C. elegans research meets aging research. The dataset covered 6,117 articles published from 1970 through June 5, 2025, from 19,864 authors at 3,798 institutes in 91 countries.
Supporting source [1]
Country output and rising annual publications
Annual publications rose from 312 in 2020 to 341 in 2021 and stayed high afterwards. The United States led global output, followed by China, Germany and the United Kingdom, and collaboration networks were concentrated among these countries. The University of California system ranked first in productivity, while the Chinese Academy of Sciences ranked third.
Supporting source [1]
Themenwandel von IIS und Stress zu Mitophagie
Topic evolution indicated a shift from foundational studies of insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 signaling (IIS) pathways and stress responses toward emerging themes such as thermal control and mitophagy in C. elegans aging models. The authors state that the protocol supports transparent, updatable bibliometric analyses and future study of directions including caloric restriction and mitophagy.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
Abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. This is a bibliometric mapping of publication records, not an experimental test of aging mechanisms, and it reports no effect sizes or causal findings. The described protocol is presented as a proposed approach for transparent, updatable analyses.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Song Y, Qi J, Liao Q, Fan X, Du H, Li X, Niu H, Liu G. · europepmc.org · May 22, 2026