Articles published in the seven speciality journals throughout the previous 10 years were included in the present bibliometric analysis. One paper in particular attracted a lot of citations, indicating its substantial impact on the molecular field of AB. Our analysis identifies noteworthy authors and nations that have contributed, with Brazil emerging as a leading figure in this field of study. This result coincided with another bibliometric study that provided information on important avenues for further investigation into oral mucosal lesions in COVID-19 [6]. Citation analysis is a useful method in medical literature that helps identify the most important papers within a particular topic. Many academicians employ bibliometric methods to investigate the influence of a group of researchers, or in the identification of individual influential papers within a certain field of study [7].

Heldwein et al., [23] stated that studies that receive 100 citations or more are considered classic studies. The current analysis found just one paper that has received over 100 citations and is therefore regarded as classic. Understanding and being familiar with these historic publications clinicians, and young researchers remain up to date on traditional knowledge. We determined each article’s citation density, which represented its scientific effect, yearly to correct for time bias [7]. Based on where a journal falls within the JIF distribution of a given subject category, quartile rankings are determined for every journal within that category. Public research funding that is based on performance might benefit greatly from the total publications and/or the fraction of total publications in a specified quartile, typically the first quartile [24]. Nevertheless, in the present study, very few papers were assigned to the selected first quartile (J Dent Res [n = 5], Oral Dis [n = 17], Oral Oncol [n = 4]), and third quartile (J Oral Maxillofac Pathol [n = 9], Indian J Dent Res [n = 2]) journals. In contrast, the maximum number of papers were in the chosen second quartile (J Oral Pathol Med [n = 33], and Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol [n = 42]) journals.

When it comes to publishing their research, authors typically choose high-impact journals, to publish outstanding work [9, 11]. Previous bibliometric studies that have shown a favourable association between citation frequency and JIFs provide evidence for this claim [25, 26]. Nevertheless, no such relationship was found in the current study, which was in conjunction with an earlier bibliometric investigation [7]. Regardless of the impact factors, authors today are more concerned with the journal’s readership and hence favour publishing their top-notch work in specialised journals. Despite having an impact factor of less than five, the Oral Surg Med Pathol Oral Radiol, and J Oral Pathol Med, have published 42 and 33 articles, respectively. This indicates that more frequently than not, investigators submit work on AB to these two journals for publication. Furthermore, because the outcomes of some research that have evolved into landmark studies are so well acknowledged, their original investigators or collaborators are frequently forgotten, and these studies may eventually receive fewer citations. This phenomenon is called the “obliteration by incorporation” effect [27].

Despite having strong scientific content, recent novel works could not have as many citations. It was proposed that an article needs to be published for at least six to fifteen years to receive enough citations to be considered a citation classic [28]. It is noticeable that 112 of the papers ascribed here have varying numbers of citations; fewer publications have garnered more attention and have ruled the literature on AB, adhering to Bradford’s law [29]. The other bibliometric evaluations concur with the result of our investigation [9, 30, 31].

There are some intrinsic limitations to the present bibliometric analysis. Information about the citation analysis was obtained only from the Scopus repository. Therefore, there is a chance that genuine “classic” publications that are accessible in other databases such as Web of Science (WoS) and PubMed, Google Scholar could have dropped out. Furthermore, the hierarchy for cited publications on AB may differ in other databases [11]. Citation counts are typically greater in Google Scholar and Scopus than in WoS [32]. Nonetheless, Scopus is frequently utilized in the literature and is regarded as the most reliable database for citation analysis [7]. A bibliometric analysis typically does not represent the quality of an article; rather, it measures the publication’s recognition within a particular field. Researchers frequently have a tendency to mention earlier highly cited works, regardless of their content or quality, due to the phenomenon of the snowball effect [9, 11, 33]. Regardless of their profound scientific merit, older publications have a higher edge than more recent ones when it comes to citation analysis [7, 11]. Despite many limitations, the information presented in this study offers some understanding of the primary domains of research for molecular studies on AB.