Coronavirus belong to order Nidovirales, family Coronaviridae and subfamily Coronaviridae with high pathology to mammalian, vertebrates and avian hosts. The structure of coronavirus consists of the single-stranded positive-sense viral RNA, Nucleocapsid protein, Envelope protein, Membrane glycoprotein and Spike protein. SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, two highly transmissible and pathogenic viruses, emerged in humans in 2002 and 2012 respectively and resulted in spread and pathogenic infection in humans. In December 2019, a patient with pneumonia infected by a novel coronavirus was found in Wuhan, China. Since then, an increasing number of cases of infectious pneumonia have been identified in Wuhan and the whole country. Now the epidemic has spread abroad. However, studies on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of global research of coronavirus are limited. Evaluation of the current status and trends of coronavirus research and predicting promising popular topics and directions in the field are more essential. Publication, as a central part of scientific research, is a significant indicator for research contribution. Bibliometrics combined with visualized mapping has been recognized as an effective means of assessing scientific progress. Information from online literature databases and metrology characteristics were analyzed via bibliometric analysis, which can be used to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the trends in the research community over time. Bibliometric analysis is also applied to policy making and clinical guidelines. The aim of our study is to assess the status and trends of coronavirus research globally and discover the popular topics for researchers interested in coronavirus.
