Research Trends, Knowledge Evolution and Pharmacological Advances of Cordyceps cicadae: A Bibliometric Analysis
- 1School of Life Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Abstract
Cordyceps cicadae (C. cicadae), an entomopathogenic medicinal fungus widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, has attracted growing scientific interest due to its diverse reported pharmacological activities. Despite increasing research activity, a comprehensive bibliometric assessment of global publication trends and research hotspots remains limited. This study aimed to analyze publication trends, research characteristics, and thematic developments in English-language publications on C. cicadae indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Relevant publications covering the period 1990–2025 were retrieved, yielding 192 eligible records, including 188 original articles and four reviews. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer(version 1.6.20), CiteSpace(version 6.3.R1), and Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny(version 4.3.3) to evaluate publication output, contributing countries, authors, journals, co-citation networks, keyword co-occurrence patterns, and thematic evolution. Annual publication output remained relatively low in the early years but increased markedly after 2018. China accounted for the largest proportion of publications, while researchers such as Chen Chin-Chu, Li Wei, and Ouyang Zhen were among the notable contributors. Co-citation and keyword analyses identified the isolation and characterization of bioactive constituents and the investigation of pharmacological activities as major research themes. More recent research topics included immunomodulation, antioxidant activity, renal and hepatoprotective effects, gut microbiota modulation, and multi-omics-based mechanistic investigations. Overall, this study provides a systematic overview of the research landscape of C. cicadae and identifies emerging topics that may inform future investigations into cultivation strategies, bioactive constituents, pharmacological mechanisms, and potential biomedical applications.
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BibTeX
@article{du2026research,
title = {{Research Trends, Knowledge Evolution and Pharmacological Advances of Cordyceps cicadae: A Bibliometric Analysis}},
author = {Siyu Du and Ruyue Luo and Anqi Liu and Tongling Yang and Ningbo Wang and Jialin Duan},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27219574},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9574},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Research Trends, Knowledge Evolution and Pharmacological Advances of Cordyceps cicadae: A Bibliometric Analysis
AU - Siyu Du
AU - Ruyue Luo
AU - Anqi Liu
AU - Tongling Yang
AU - Ningbo Wang
AU - Jialin Duan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27219574
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9574
AB - Cordyceps cicadae (C. cicadae), an entomopathogenic medicinal fungus widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, has attracted growing scientific interest due to its diverse reported pharmacological activities. Despite increasing research activity, a comprehensive bibliometric assessment of global publication trends and research hotspots remains limited. This study aimed to analyze publication trends, research characteristics, and thematic developments in English-language publications on C. cicadae indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Relevant publications covering the period 1990–2025 were retrieved, yielding 192 eligible records, including 188 original articles and four reviews. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer(version 1.6.20), CiteSpace(version 6.3.R1), and Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny(version 4.3.3) to evaluate publication output, contributing countries, authors, journals, co-citation networks, keyword co-occurrence patterns, and thematic evolution. Annual publication output remained relatively low in the early years but increased markedly after 2018. China accounted for the largest proportion of publications, while researchers such as Chen Chin-Chu, Li Wei, and Ouyang Zhen were among the notable contributors. Co-citation and keyword analyses identified the isolation and characterization of bioactive constituents and the investigation of pharmacological activities as major research themes. More recent research topics included immunomodulation, antioxidant activity, renal and hepatoprotective effects, gut microbiota modulation, and multi-omics-based mechanistic investigations. Overall, this study provides a systematic overview of the research landscape of C. cicadae and identifies emerging topics that may inform future investigations into cultivation strategies, bioactive constituents, pharmacological mechanisms, and potential biomedical applications.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -