국내 생명의료윤리 연구 키워드 네트워크 분석

Abstract

Background: Biomedical ethics research in South Korea began in 1998 and has continued to the present. However, no analysis has been conducted on its entire quantity and research trend. Therefore, this study examines the overall orientation of Korean biomedical ethics research. Methods: Keyword network analysis was performed on English keywords of 1,064 research articles published in five major journals in the field of biomedical ethics in South Korea. The analysis was conducted through cluster analysis, degree centrality, and betweenness centrality. The method was applied again by dividing the entire research history into three periods (1998-2008, 2009-2015, and 2016-2021). Results: Biomedical ethics research in South Korea was mainly focused on the area of research ethics. Medical ethics education, autonomy, and privacy were also received attention. Virtue ethics was centers in the theoretical domain. On the other hand, public health ethics, religious bioethics, environmental ethics, neuroethics, and professional ethics had been received relatively low attention. Discussion: This paper suggested diversification at the theoretical domain in biomedical ethics research, academic efforts to support the exploration of less examined topics, and the use of Medical Subject Headings for quantitative evaluation of research results.