ISICO ranks first for scientific publications in a new international analysis of scoliosis rehabilitation research

A new bibliometric study published in 2026 (Scientific literature landscape analysis of researches on rehabilitation in scoliosis over the last 30 years) has mapped international research on scoliosis rehabilitation over the past three decades, identifying ISICO – the Italian Scientific Spine Institute – as the institution with the highest number of publications in the dataset analysed.

Published in Spine Research, the study included 308 articles and reviews and involved 540 institutions and 1,392 authors.
ISICO ranked first among institutions for publication output, while Stefano Negrini, ISICO Scientific Director, ranked first among authors for number of publications and was also the most co-cited author. Fabio Zaina, ISICO specialist in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, and Michele Romano, Physiotherapy Director of Isico, ranked second and third respectively for publication output.

Not an isolated finding

The new study is particularly interesting when considered alongside three other independent bibliometric analyses published in recent years, each exploring a different area of scoliosis research.

A 2024 analysis of exercise therapy for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis found ISICO tied for first place among institutions for number of publications and first for total citations within the dataset analysed. Five ISICO researchers appeared among the ten most prolific authors: Stefano Negrini, Michele Romano, Fabio Zaina, Alessandra Negrini and Sabrina Donzelli.

Another 2024 study, focusing on orthotic treatment and bracing for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, highlighted the contribution of individual ISICO researchers. Stefano Negrini ranked second and Fabio Zaina third among the most prolific authors in the dataset, while Negrini was also the third most co-cited author.

Finally, a 2025 bibliometric analysis examining adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treatment as a whole, including both conservative and surgical approaches, found that the 2016 SOSORT Guidelines: orthopaedic and rehabilitation treatment of idiopathic scoliosis during growth, with Stefano Negrini as first author, were the most co-cited paper in the dataset. The previous 2011 SOSORT Guidelines also appeared among the ten most co-cited publications.

Four different analyses, a converging picture

Bibliometric studies do not establish which institution provides the best clinical care. They measure specific aspects of scientific activity — such as publication output, citations and the influence of individual papers — within a defined research field and dataset.

The value of a single ranking is always relative, because every bibliometric study is based on a specific dataset, time period and research question. What is more interesting here is the convergence of four independent analyses, focused on different areas of scoliosis research, which repeatedly identify ISICO, its researchers or their scientific work among the most productive, cited or influential contributors.
“This is especially meaningful for us because research has always been an integral part of our clinical work: it allows us to test our approaches, contribute to international knowledge and continuously improve patient care. However, the fact that four independent analyses, covering different areas of scoliosis research, repeatedly identify ISICO, its researchers or their scientific contributions among the most productive, cited or influential provides a converging and independently verifiable picture of ISICO’s contribution to international scoliosis research – ends Negrini”.
This is particularly noteworthy considering that several of these analyses cover research periods beginning before ISICO was founded in 2003.

Bibliografia