Soft robotics is of growing interest in the robot community as well as in public media, and there is an increase in the quality and quantity of publications related to this topic. To formally elaborate this growth, we have used a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the publications in the field from 1990 to 2017 based on the Science Citation Index Expanded database. We present a detailed overview and discussion based on keywords, citation, h-index, year, journal, institution, country, author, and review articles. The results show that the United States takes the leading position in this research field, followed by China and Italy. Harvard University has the most publications, high average number of citations per publication and the highest h-index. IEEE Transactions on Robotics ranks first among the top 20 academic journals publishing articles related to this field, whereas Soft Robotics holds the top position in journals categorized with “ROBOTICS.” Actuator, fabrication, control, material, sensing, simulation, bionics, stiffness, modeling, power, motion, and application are the hot topics of soft robotics. Smart materials, bionics, morphological computation, and embodiment control are expected to contribute to this field in the future. Application and commercialization appear to be the initial driving force and final goal for soft robots.

Since the first robotic exoskeleton was developed in 1960, this research field has attracted much interest from both the academic and industrial communities resulting in scientific publications, prototype developments and commercialized products. In this article, to document the progress in and current status of this field, we performed a bibliometric analysis. This analysis evaluated the publications in the field of robotic exoskeletons from 1990 to July 2019 that were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded database. The bibliometric analyses were presented in terms of author keywords, year, country, institution, journal, author, and the citation. Results show that currently the United States has taken the leading position in this field and has built the largest collaborative network with other countries. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) made the greatest contribution to the field of robotic exoskeleton investigations in terms of the number of publications, average citations per publication and the h-index. In addition, the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation ranks first among the top 20 academic journals in terms of the number of publications related to robotic exoskeletons during the period investigated. Author keyword analysis indicates that most research has focused on rehabilitation robotics. Biomedical engineering, rehabilitation and the neurosciences are the most common disciplines conducting research in this area according to the Web of Science (WoS). Our study comprehensively assesses the current research status and collaboration network of robotic exoskeletons, thus helping researchers steer their projects or locate potential collaborators.

Great advances have been made with the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method for complicated fluid phenomena and fundamental thermal processes over the past three decades. This paper presents a systematic overview of the LB method from 1990 to 2018, based on bibliometric analysis and the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) database. The results show that China took the leading position in this field, followed by the USA and UK. The Chinese Academy of Sciences had the most publications, while the Los Alamos National Laboratory was first as far as highest average citation per paper and h-index are concerned. Physical Review E was the most productive journal and "Mechanics" was the most frequently used subject category. Keyword analysis indicated that recent research has focused on the natural convection and heat transfer of nanofluid or multiphase flow in complex porous media. Hydrothermal treatment of nanofluid with shape factor on the conditions, such as variable magnetic fields, thermal radiation and slipping boundary, were the research hotspots. Further research perspectives mainly explore the multiscale models for coupling multiple transport phenomena, morphology optimization of porous parameters, new nanoparticles with shape factor, multicomponent LB method considering Knudsen diffusion effect, LB-based hybrid methods, radiation performance or boiling-heat transfer of nanofluid, and the active control of droplets, may continue to attract more attention. Moreover, some new applications, such as phase change of metal foam, erosion induced by nanaofluid, anode circulating, 3D modeling in thermal systems with vibration, and magnetohydrodynamics microfluid devices, could be of interest going forward.

The purpose of this bibliometric analysis was to identify and assess the 100 most-cited articles (T100 articles) on urological surgery. The Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database was used to investigate the T100 articles in the field of urological surgery. Different aspects of the T100 articles, including the countries, journals, authors, and topics, were analyzed. The number of citations of T100 articles published between 1989 and 2016 ranged from 334 to 2189. The T100 articles originated from 28 countries, with more than half originating from the USA (n = 80). Professor Bill-Axelson A from Uppsala University Hospital published the largest number of T100 articles as the first author (4) and as a coauthor (1). The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from the USA is the top institution with the most T100 articles in the field of urological surgery. The special journal Journal of Urology published 41 of the T100 articles, which had a total of 19780 citations. Our study analyzed the 100 most-cited articles in the field of urological surgery. The USA is the dominant country in terms of the number of T100 articles, scientists and institutions. Surgery related to urological cancer has garnered the most academic attention, especially prostate cancer and renal cancer.