Mapping a Quarter-Century of Scholarship on Paediatric Respiratory Diseases

Background: Paediatric respiratory diseases remain major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide, including pneumonia, asthma, bronchiolitis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, and environmentally related airway disease. Despite increasing scientific output, comprehensive bibliometric evaluation of this field remains limited. Objective: To analyse the global evolution, leading contributors, collaboration patterns, and emerging themes in paediatric respiratory disease research from 2000 to 2025. Methods: A bibliometric study was conducted using Scopus as the primary database and PubMed as a supplementary source. English-language articles and reviews published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2025 were included. Bibliometrix/R, VOSviewer, and Gephi were used for performance analysis and science mapping. Outcomes included publication growth, leading countries, institutions, authors, journals, citation metrics, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, thematic evolution, and funding patterns. Results: The dataset comprised 18,742 publications. Research output increased more than eight-fold during the study period, particularly after 2015. The United States remained the leading contributor, followed by China and the United Kingdom. Highly cited publications focused on bronchiolitis guidelines, lung-function standardisation, preschool wheeze, and RSV burden. Four major thematic clusters emerged: asthma and allergy; RSV, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia; cystic fibrosis and chronic suppurative lung disease; and critical care, COVID-19, air pollution, and digital health. Conclusion: Paediatric respiratory research expanded rapidly and became increasingly collaborative and translational. However, research activity remains concentrated in high-income countries despite greater disease burden in low- and middle-income set-tings.