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Stem cell therapy has been increasingly investigated as a promising strategy for intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). However, no international analysis of stem cell research has yet been conducted. This study aimed to analyze the major characteristics of published reports of stem cell use for IDD and to present a global insight into stem cell research. The study period spanned from the inception of the Web of Science database to 2021. A search strategy using specific keywords was implemented to retrieve relevant publications. The numbers of documents, citations, countries, journals, article types, and stem cell types were evaluated. A total of 1170 papers were retrieved. The analysis showed a significant increase in the number of papers over time (p < 0.001). High-income economies accounted for the majority of papers (758, 64.79 %). China produced the most articles (378, 32.31 %), followed by the United States (259, 22.14 %), Switzerland (69, 5.90 %), United Kingdom (54, 4.62 %), and Japan (47, 4.02 %). The United States ranked first in terms of the number of citations (10,346), followed by China (9177) and Japan (3522). Japan ranked first in terms of the number of citations per paper (74.94), followed by United Kingdom (58.54) and Canada (53.74). When standardized by population, Switzerland ranked first, followed by Ireland and Sweden. When gross domestic product was considered, Switzerland ranked first, followed by Portugal and Ireland. The number of papers was positively correlated with gross domestic product (p < 0.001, r = 0.673); however, there was no significant correlation with population (p = 0.062, r = 0.294). Mesenchymal stem cells were the most investigated stem cells, followed by nucleus pulposus-derived stem cells and adipose-derived stem cells. A sharp increase in stem cell research was observed in the field of IDD. China produced the most, although several European countries were more productive relative to their populations and economies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Yaohong Wu reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81960407)., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Very low proportions of publications from low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC) have been proved in multiple fields. Some researchers from these countries believe that there is a biased attitude of editors against their studies. Under-representation of editorial board members from LAMIC were revealed in many research fields. However, it has not been investigated in the field of foot and ankle surgery. The current study aimed to analyze the composition of the editorial board members in leading foot and ankle journals, and to provide the international representation of editorial boards in the field of foot and ankle surgery. Five leading journals in the field of foot and ankle surgery were included. The editorial board members were collected from the official websites of these journals. The countries of board members were classified based on World Bank. The board compositions of the journals were analyzed. In total, 229 editorial board members were identified. These editors were from 29 countries. The United States (29.69%) had the greatest number of editors, followed by the United Kingdom (20.52%), Australia (8.30%), Italy (6.11%), and Germany (5.68%). When the editors were classified by regions, 49.34% of board members were from Europe & Central Asia, followed by North America (31.44%), East Asia & Pacific (14.41%), Latin America & Caribbean (2.62%), and Middle East & North Africa (2.18%). No editors were from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 217 editors (94.76%) were from high-income countries, followed by upper-middle-income countries (3.06%), and lower-middle-income countries (2.18%). No members were from low-income countries. There is a lack of international representation on editorial boards of leading foot and ankle journals. Editorial board members in the field of foot and ankle surgery are largely composed by editors from high-income countries with sever under-representation of LAMIC., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)