In the current study, several databases were adopted. Web of Science (WoS) is one of the most well-known scientific citation index databases in the world. Publications included in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) are considered an essential part of the research process. In 2020, the Web of Science Core Collection will contain more than 74.8 million scientific records and 1.5 billion references in 254 subject areas dating back to 1900 (23–25). Therefore, in this study, we chose the WoSCC database as our primary data source.

All data were retrieved from WoSCC on July 25, 2024, using a four-component approach: (i) topic = autistic traits; (ii) document type = “article” or “review article”; (iii) language = English. The plain text format of complete records and their corresponding cited references were downloaded for further examination.

CiteSpace is a valuable and essential tool for analyzing scientific literature. It is primarily used to evaluate the corpus of papers within a specific field and to illustrate the structure and trajectory of research in that domain, facilitating the identification of patterns, hotspots, and the evolution of knowledge over time (26, 27). In this study, CiteSpace V.6.2.R4 (64-bit) was applied to analyze research related to AT. The goal was to provide evidence-based support for researchers, gain insights into the current state and trends within the field, and generate new ideas for future development.

CiteSpace is specifically designed to facilitate the detection of emerging trends and abrupt changes in the scientific literature (28). In this study, the CiteSpace software was used to identify citation bursts across multiple dimensions, such as research publication year, author, research institution, journal, country, keywords, and hotspots.

Using the specified search strategy, a total of 1,044 publications meeting the inclusion criteria were retrieved. Figure 2 illustrates the annual number of articles published on AT. The document types are divided into two categories: articles and reviews. As can be seen, the number of reviews is relatively small. The first qualifying article on AT was published in 1997. Between 1997 and 2012, the number of articles on AT remained relatively low, with fewer than 30 articles published per year. Starting in 2012, there was a gradual increase in the number of AT articles, with notable surges observed between 2019 and 2020, and again between 2022 and 2023. The total number of articles published from 1997 to 2019 is less than the number of articles published in the most recent five-year period. It should be noted that the count of AT articles for 2024 is limited due to data collection being conducted in July of that year. This trend indicates that research on AT is currently a prominent focus, with the majority of articles published in the past five years.

Analyzing the journals cited in the field of AT provides valuable insights into key sources of knowledge dissemination and facilitates the efficient location of relevant information. In this study, articles on AT published between 1997 and 2024 were analyzed at one-year intervals. The cited journals were categorized as nodes, resulting in a distribution map with a merged network comprising 637 nodes and 6,453 links, as illustrated in Figure 3 . In this network, journals are represented as nodes and their interconnections are depicted as lines. Nodes with higher frequency are considered more influential and impactful in the development of the scientific field. The thickness of the lines between nodes reflects the strength of their relationships. Figure 4 presents a dual-map overlay of journals, showing the relationships between cited journals on the left and citing journals on the right. The majority of journals are focused on the field of psychology, while others cover topics such as education, health, and social issues. Table 1 lists the top ten most cited journals in this field. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ranks first with 976 publications, followed by the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry with 604 publications, and Autism with 592 publications. PLOS ONE and Autism Research are the fourth and fifth most cited journals, respectively. It is noteworthy that most of the top ten journals by number of articles are from the United States.

To examine the connections between articles published in different countries, we analyzed all articles on AT from 1997 to 2024 at one-year intervals. This analysis produced a country-specific distribution map, shown in Figure 5 , which displays a merged network consisting of 58 nodes and 255 links. In this network, nodes represent countries, and the lines illustrate the relationships between them. The size of the nodes reflects the number of publications, with larger nodes indicating higher publication productivity.

Table 2 lists the top ten most productive countries in AT research. England leads with the highest publication productivity, totaling 302 articles, followed by the USA with 197 articles. These are the only two countries with more than 150 articles. Australia, Japan, China, and the Netherlands follow.

CiteSpace was employed to generate a network map to explore collaborative relationships between institutions and to identify influential institutions in the field of AT. The node type was set to institution, resulting in a distribution map comprising 369 nodes and 1,277 links, as shown in Figure 6 . In this map, nodes represent institutions, and lines depict the relationships between them. Institutions with a higher number of published papers are generally considered more important and influential.

Table 3 presents the top ten most productive institutions in this field. The University of London ranks first with 129 publications, followed by King’s College London with 73, and the University of Cambridge in third place with 69. Most of the top ten institutions are located in England, highlighting the country’s prominent role in the field. Additionally, the close connections between major institutions indicate strong collaborative networks.

The articles selected for analysis spanned from 1997 to 2024. Authors were designated as the node type to create a network map of co-authorship, as illustrated in Figure 7 . This merged network map comprises 560 nodes and 1,088 links. In the map, nodes represent authors, and lines indicate their collaborative relationships. The size of each node corresponds to the author’s publication output, with larger nodes reflecting a higher number of published articles.

Among the active authors, Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge ranks first with 38 publications. Other notable authors include Ronald Angelica from the University of London, Murray T. Maybery from the University of Western Australia, Francesca Happe from King’s College London, and Carrie Allison from the University of Cambridge. Table 4 lists the top ten most productive authors in this field. Many of these authors are from the United Kingdom and are trained psychologists, reflecting a strong network of collaboration within this region.

Co-citation analysis is a method used to measure the relationships between articles based on their simultaneous citation by other articles, indicating a co-citation relationship (29). For analysis, references were designated as the node type in CiteSpace, with articles published between 1997 and 2024. This approach generated a co-citation network map, revealing a merged network of 931 nodes and 3,993 links, as shown in Figure 8 . In this network, nodes represent co-cited references, and lines describe the relationships between these co-citations.

Table 5 presents the top ten most cited references in this study. The most cited literature is “Measuring Autistic Traits in the General Population: A Systematic Review of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a Nonclinical Population Sample of 6,900 Typical Adult Males and Females” by Ruzich et al. (30). This is followed by “Autism Spectrum Disorders and Autistic Traits: Shared Genetics and Biology” by Bralten et al. (31) and the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” by the American Psychiatric Association (1). The majority of co-citations focus on the academic performance and diagnosis of AT.

Keywords are essential for understanding the core topics of a study. Analyzing keywords allows us to summarize research themes, identify hotspots, and explore research directions (32). For this analysis, articles published between 1997 and 2024 were selected with a one-year time slice, and keywords were used as the node type in CiteSpace. This generated a keyword co-occurrence map comprising 529 nodes and 4,432 links, as shown in Figures 9A, B . The most frequently occurring keywords in this study include “children” (389 occurrences), “autistic traits” (366), “spectrum quotient AQ” (240), “adults” (187), “spectrum disorders” (181), “autism spectrum disorder” (161), “spectrum disorder” (150), “functioning autism” (144), and “Asperger syndrome” (127). A timeline based on keyword interactions and relationships within the field is constructed to explore the evolutionary trajectory and characteristics of the research domain. Figure 10 displays the top 15 keywords with the strongest citation bursts. The blue line represents the time intervals, while the red line indicates the periods of significant keyword bursts. In AT research, earlier keywords include “pervasive developmental disorders”, “family history,” and “asperger syndrome”. More recent keywords include “autism-spectrum quotient”, “mental health”, “brain” and “emotion recognition”. Additionally, terms such as “autistic-like traits” and “general population” show significant impact.

The analysis encompasses various aspects of the study of AT, including publications, journals, countries, institutions, authors, co-cited references, and keywords, as represented in CiteSpace. Notably, the seminal article on AT, “Autistic Traits in Adults with Learning Disabilities,” published in 1997, appears to have marked the beginning of this research area. This study explored the prevalence of AT and their association with maladaptive behaviors among adults with learning disabilities in a specific geographical region. It found that AT were prevalent in this population, and individuals with a higher number of these traits were more likely to be severely learning disabled and exhibit a wide range of challenging behaviors.

The growth trend in AT publications from 1997 to 2024 can be divided into two distinct phases. The first phase (1997 to 2012) is characterized by stagnation or slow emergence. The peak number of publications in this phase was 24, recorded in 2011 and 2012. The total number of publications during this phase was 117, indicating relatively modest growth. The second phase (2013 to 2024) represents a period of significant growth and rapid development. The data collection for 2024, which was conducted in July, indicates a preliminary count of 73 publications for that year. The total number of publications from 2013 to 2024 is 927, approximately nine times the number from the first phase. In particular, the number of articles published each year after 2020 shows a significant increase compared to the previous phase, with exceptional numbers in 2022 (120) and 2023 (165).

The presence of AT has been demonstrated not only in individuals diagnosed with ASD but also in the general population, where AT can be observed at subthreshold levels (33). Additionally, subsequent research has shown that other populations, including psychiatric patients with various disorders and participants in scientific courses, are also more likely to exhibit AT (3, 34–40). The combined presence of elevated schizotypal and autistic traits was associated with an even greater reduction in social functioning (41). Future research in the field of AT should continue to prioritize the study of specific populations, such as individuals with psychiatric disorders and those involved in criminal activities. This broadening of focus has led to a significant increase in AT research in recent years.