Collaborative clinical trials on infectious disease among the G20 nations using scientometric analysis

The study addresses how infectious diseases spread more rapidly due to globalization, lifestyle changes, antimicrobial resistance, and climate change, emphasizing the need for international collaboration to combat these threats. With the G20’s focus on strengthening research and innovation—especially in light of recent global health crises such as Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19—the paper aims to provide a macroscopic overview of collaboration among G20 nations in clinical trials on infectious diseases. As India assumes the 2023 G20 presidency amid economic challenges post-COVID-19, understanding the current landscape of collaborative clinical trial research is timely and important. The research question centers on mapping and characterizing collaborative patterns and outputs in clinical trials on infectious diseases among G20 nations.

Publications authored by G20-affiliated researchers from 2010 to 2022 were retrieved from PubMed and the Web of Science using relevant search strategies. After de-duplication and data cleaning with a thesaurus file, European Union (EU) member states were collectively categorized as “EU” (except France, Germany, and Italy, which were treated individually as G20 members). The final dataset for bibliometric analysis comprised Web of Science article metadata and was analyzed using VOSviewer. Coauthorship and keyword co-occurrence analyses were conducted to examine collaboration patterns and research foci.

A total of 3,636 articles were included. From 2013 to 2014, publications with international collaborations increased by 5.8%. The USA contributed the highest share of publications among G20 nations (28.2%), followed by the UK (10.3%) and Germany (6.2%). India ranked 13th with 2.4% of publications. Frequently occurring keywords included HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, hepatitis, and influenza. India participated in over 203 collaborative clinical trials between 2010 and 2022, collaborating most closely with the USA, followed by the UK and Australia.

The analysis shows that collaborative clinical trials among G20 countries are led predominantly by the USA, the UK, and Germany, likely reflecting differences in research funding capacity and advantages linked to English proficiency. The prominence of keywords related to viral infections (HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, hepatitis, influenza) suggests that these areas attract substantial international collaboration, with COVID-19 driving a surge in related research to address prevention and containment. The findings highlight the need to reconsider and better target health research funding policies to incentivize institutions and researchers, and to strengthen participation from lower-middle-income countries whose publication growth has not kept pace with the burden of infectious diseases. Sustained political will and international cooperation—particularly through forums like the G20—are critical to address resurgence risks and enhance collaborative responses. The study offers policymakers and stakeholders a macro-level perspective on collaborative clinical trials that can inform strategies to mitigate infectious disease threats, and it points to future research on facilitators and barriers to collaboration.

This brief communication maps and quantifies G20 collaboration in clinical trials on infectious diseases, revealing leadership by industrialized nations and concentration on viral infection research, particularly during COVID-19. The work underscores the importance of targeted funding strategies, capacity building, and inclusive collaboration to increase contributions from lower-middle-income countries. Future research should investigate the specific enablers and obstacles to collaboration among G20 members and assess policy mechanisms that can strengthen equitable, effective partnerships to address global infectious disease threats.