Drawing and Analyzing Co-Citation Networks of Ethics in Covid 19

The co-citation analysis represents similarity, conceptual connection, and recognition between two authors, two magazines, or two documents. The purpose of this study is to map the co-citation network in the field of ethics and Covid 19 in order to better understand this field based on co-citation networks.

The present study is applied with the practical purpose, with narraive approach, and is done by the use of scientometrics and co-citation analysis method. In this study, all scientific productions in the field of ethics and Covid 19 (42 documents) without considering shortage of time (up to the date December 6th, 2020) in the Web of Science database is studied. VOS Viewer and Excel software are used to analyze and draw co-citation maps. Ethical Considerations: Ethics were considered in all phases of the present study including data gathering and analysis, and publication.

Cited documents in the field of ethics and Covid 19, 5 co-citation clusters and the first cluster with the principle of ethical principles, and practical duty of care in epidemic diseases is the largest cluster. Emanuel's article ranked first in 2020 with eight citations and topics on how to allocate medical resources to patients during the Covid 19 epidemic based on ethical principles. The American Journal of Bioethics (AM J Bioethics) won the first rank with the topic about the bioethics and interpretations of clinical care and ethics as well as special topics such as day-to-day ethical challenges and reception of 14 citations. Highly cited journals in the field of ethics and Covid 19, 7 co-citation clusters and the first cluster with the thematic scope of publishing the latest news in various fields of medicine is the largest cluster. Michael L. Gross, an expert in bioethics, medical ethics, and military ethics is the top cited author in this field. Authors in the field of ethics and Covid 19, 7 thematic clusters and the first cluster with the thematic domain of cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation is the largest cluster.

By identifying the highly cited scientific products in the field of ethics and Covid 19, an attempt is made to provide a comprehensive view of the top documents, top journals, and top authors so that it can be a decision-making tool in the shortest possible time. Also, considering the existing scientific capacities, the role of Iran and medical universities to produce science in the mentioned field should be increased.