A Bibliometric Analysis and Visual Mapping of the Journal of Health Administration from 1997 to 2024

Introduction: Scrutiny of the activities of a scholarly journal can help its managers and other policy makers to learn about the status quo, science production process, publication trends, and research impact of the journal. This study sought to analyze the bibliometric characteristics of Journal of Health Administration (JHA) . Methods: The research population of this descriptive–applied study included all articles published in the journal between 1997 and 2024. Bibliographic data were extracted from the journal website and the Magiran database, and RIS files of the articles were collected. Citation information was obtained from Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Publish or Perish software. Data analysis was performed using Excel and VOSviewer. Results: Over a 27-year period, the journal published 733 articles, 89% of which were original research papers. Since 2019, when the journal was indexed in Scopus, no significant change has occurred in the previous fluctuating pattern of citations. Most collaborations were with domestic authors. Keyword cloud analysis revealed frequent use of terms hospital management , Iran , and COVID-19 . Conclusion: To increase citations, JHA could devote a larger share of its published content to review articles. To attract contributions from foreign authors, measures can be sought from the Office of International Affairs. Suitable strategies for achieving greater balance in the thematic distribution of articles may include parallel promotion among target groups in related disciplines, providing more article thematic diversity at the time of article acceptance, and focusing on frontier topics of knowledge.