A review research on problem-based learning in Chinese medicine colleges and universities based on bibliometrics

Objective Through statistical analyzing the papers about the researches on application of problem-based learning (PBL) in Chinese medicine colleges and universities to find the present situation and to provide reference for future research. Methods Retrieved literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. And then, made a statistic assay of distribution of time, journals, publishing institutions, authors, citation information, funds projects and key words by a bibliometric analysis. Results The review covers 1 236 papers from 270 journals, 24 TCM Chinese medicine colleges and universities. The earliest literature was published in 1994. There were 45 core authors in 1 001 first authors and 1 352 high frequency key words. Co-authored rate was 79.8%. The cooperation degree was 3.42. The cited rate was 84.1%. Each paper was cited 4.72 times. H-index is 23. Conclusions Research on PBL teaching in Chinese medicine colleges and universities started quite early and developed rapidly in the recent ten years in China. The number of papers increased dramatically. Core authors and research teams gradually formed. The research content covers widely, but the contribution from different school is not balanced. The overall paper quality is not high, related research remains to be further strengthened. Key words: Chinese medicine colleges and universities; Problem-based learning; Teaching method; Bibliometric; Scientific research evaluation