A bibliometric review of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (licorice) research: Insights and future directions

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, a Chinese herb known as licorice, is frequently incorporated in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulations, due to its significant medicinal value and sweet taste. Despite licorice's merits, no systematic scientometric study has yet been conducted to analyze licorice research trends over the past 25 years.

Aim of the study: We conducted this study with the aim to provide researchers with a comprehensive overview of research advances in the application of licorice as a TCM ingredient and to offer valuable insights to guide future endeavors in this research field.

Methods: We selected licorice-related research papers published between 1997 and 2021 from the Web of Science Core Collection then conducted a scientometric analysis using VOSviewer and CiteSpace software tools.

Results: A total of 4883 licorice-related publications, including 4511 research papers, 372 review papers, and their cited references, were included in the analysis. Most of these articles were authored by researchers in China (36.8%), including major contributors Wang Ying, Ye Min, and Zhang Yu. The Journal of Ethnopharmacology (impact factor = 5.4) hosted the greatest number of papers (145 articles). Keyword cluster analysis revealed three keyword categories indicating that current licorice research is focused on licorice quality control and identification of licorice active ingredients and associated pharmacological mechanisms.

Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive overview of licorice-related research trends over the past 25 years as based on quantitative and qualitative analyses of published licorice-related articles. The results of this multi-level analysis of licorice research related to TCM formulations, chemical compositions, and pharmacological effects should provide valuable reference data and insights to guide future research endeavors in this field.