The Web of Science database is an authoritative citation information source with the most selective journal coverage [11]. The data search was conducted using WoSCC on March 20, 2023. The research strategies were as follows: TS=Topic, (TS=“student$”) AND ((TS=“HIV”) OR (TS=“AIDS”) OR (TS=“Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”)), over the period from 1985 to 2022. A total of 6158 articles were obtained, but 3426 of them were manually excluded for not being relevant to the research content. Table 1 shows the inclusion and exclusion criteria, Figure 1 shows the study flowchart, and Multimedia Appendix 1 shows the complete research strategies and results. Study selection and data extraction were performed independently by 2 authors. Differences of opinion were settled by discussion or referral to a third author.

We downloaded all records and references from WoSCC, including authors, titles, journals, years, keywords, abstracts, dates, countries, institutions, and references. Four folders were created, named “Input,” “Output,” “Data,” and “Projects.” All records and references were placed in the “Input” folder and then imported into CiteSpace to remove duplicates. After removing the duplicates, the articles appeared in the “Output” folder by year. Finally, the data in the “Output” folder were copied to the “Data” folder to be ready for analysis by CiteSpace.

CiteSpace (version 6.2.R3) [12] was used to identify countries/regions and institutions contributing to research on HIV/AIDS among students and to reveal research hotspots and emerging trends. CiteSpace parameters were set as follows: (1) time slice from 1985 to 2022; (2) year per slice=1; and (3) pruning=pathfinder or pruning the merged network. Other parameters were set to default values.

Nodes indicated the object of analysis, including countries/regions, institutions, references, and keywords. The more frequently an object appears in the data set, the larger the node. A link between 2 nodes represents a copublishing partnership between 2 countries/regions or institutions [7]. In a network of keyword co-occurrence, a link represents the co-occurrence of 2 keywords in different articles [7]. It implied the association of 2 research contents. The thicker the line, the closer the relationship is between the 2 nodes.

The centrality of a node is a property that quantifies the importance of the node’s position in a network [6]. Betweenness centrality is one of the most commonly used centrality metrics [13]. It measures the percentage of the shortest paths in the network to which a given node belongs [14]. A node with strong betweenness centrality can show a purple ring on the outside [6].

The analysis of keyword bursts can identify hotspots and frontiers that could have an impact on future research [15]. The analysis of citation bursts can reveal articles that had a significant impact in the field [16].

A total of 2726 articles were included in this study. The trend in the number of articles reflects the popularity of research and the speed of knowledge growth [17]. The general trend in research on HIV/AIDS among students was on the rise, especially after 2002. The number of articles peaked in 2022, with 207 articles (Figure 2).

Research on HIV/AIDS among students can be divided into 3 stages. The preliminary stage was from 1985 to 2002, with 1 to 30 articles per year. It lasted 18 years but accounted for 12.22% (n=333) of the total number of articles. The research at this time laid the foundation and guided future research. In 1985, Price et al [18] published the first academic article on the assessment of high school students’ perceptions and misperceptions of AIDS. It played an influential and leading role in research on HIV/AIDS among students.

The developmental stage was from 2003 to 2017, with 66 to 136 articles per year. The total number of articles from this time period was 1529 (56.09%). A large number of articles had been accumulated during this stage of research. It can be regarded as a transition between low-level and high-level research. More and more professors and scholars had been attracted to this field, and enthusiasm for this research was high.

The superior stage was from 2018 to 2022, with 151 to 207 articles per year. The total number of articles from this time period was 864 (31.69%). Although there were small fluctuations in this period, studies on HIV/AIDS among students were generally on the rise.

Documents cocitation analysis (DCA) refers to the frequency of 2 documents cited in the joint citation list [22]. The network formed by the cocited references can capture the research priorities of the basic science community [23]. Through DCA, we can discover milestones in the field and trace the roots of the knowledge base.

In this study, bibliometric analysis was used to analyze articles related to HIV/AIDS among students from 1985 to 2022. The United States contributed 47.8% of the total articles, and its betweenness centrality (0.91) was much higher than that of other countries/regions. The United States was the core country for studies on HIV/AIDS among students. South Africa had the second-highest number of articles (10.82%), but its betweenness centrality (0.09) was much lower than that of the United States. In general, the number of articles on HIV/AIDS among students was higher in countries/regions with advanced medical systems and some countries/regions with numerous patients living with HIV/AIDS. An academic collaboration network centered on the United States had been formed, but cooperation among countries/regions needs to be strengthened. The cooperation network of institutions was formed. The University of California system is the core institution in this field. In the future, further collaboration among countries/regions or institutions should be encouraged to promote the flourishing of research on HIV/AIDS among students.

With keyword co-occurrence and cluster analysis, the most important topics and information can be easily figured out [16]. If a keyword appears frequently over a short time period, it can be considered a research hotspot [15]. Accordingly, CiteSpace was used to constantly detect changes in high-frequency keywords to accurately explore the trends in the field. The results showed that hotspots in studies on HIV/AIDS among students were constantly changing. In terms of study objects, the early research objects were school students; in the medium term, studies of medical students, college students, and African American students increased; recently, sexual minority communities, especially men who have sex with men (MSM), have been the focus of research. In terms of study content, in the early years, experts studied students’ knowledge and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS and sexual behavior. Then, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS prevention, and education gained a great deal of attention. Recently, research on stigma, HIV testing, and antiretroviral prophylaxis has become increasingly popular. In terms of study methods, earlier studies were conducted mainly through cross-sectional studies and qualitative research. In the medium term, randomized controlled trials were added to the study methods, and the Information-Motivation-Behavioral model was used in research on HIV/AIDS among students. Recently, there has been a tremendous enrichment of research methods. Disorders identification tests, clinical research, implementation science, digital health intervention, and other emerging methods are becoming more widespread in the field. In addition, the application of biopsychosocial model is an emerging practice that has been applied since 2020. The research content was getting deeper and deeper, and the research level kept rising.

The research frontiers have been changing over time since 1985. From 1985 to 2002, the research frontiers were mainly about the initial understanding of HIV/AIDS; from 2003 to 2017, they were mainly focused on the sexual health and stigma of HIV/AIDS; and from 2018 to 2022, they focused on barriers to HIV prevention, HIV testing and treatment adherence, and antiretroviral therapy. Keywords that are still popular today can provide clues for future research, such as gay, sexual health, adherence, barriers, mental health, HIV testing, stigma, and antiretroviral therapy. Risky sexual behavior is popular among college students and has been proven to be a high-risk factor for HIV/AIDS among students [38]. Through strengthening sex health education, students can increase their knowledge of HIV and reduce risky sexual behavior, thereby preventing HIV infection. In addition, the proportion of students who contracted HIV through sexual contact among MSM students is also rising rapidly [41]. However, out of 2726 articles, there were only 343 studies on HIV/AIDS infection in MSM students. It suggests that research on HIV/AIDS among MSM students is still inadequate and should be given more attention. Considering the increasing number of students living with HIV, antiretroviral therapy is particularly important. Experts analyzed the facilitators and barriers to antiretroviral therapy adherence among student with AIDS through qualitative studies [42]. In particular, stigma is a major barrier to students’ adherence to HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy. Reducing stigma can help students improve their adherence to HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy [43]. In the future, research can continue on the hotspots in the suggested direction or try to explore the interaction between the hotspots and find their commonalities to obtain new findings.

In bibliometrics analysis, the citing articles constitute the research frontier, and the cited articles constitute the knowledge base [44]. The most frequently cited articles can be considered milestones in a certain field [45]. Through the analysis of cited articles, it was found that a number of experts used questionnaires to assess students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding HIV/AIDS. Then, problems were identified and summarized to make suggestions for HIV/AIDS prevention and control among students using the information returned. These cited articles laid the foundation for research on HIV/AIDS among students.

There are limitations to this study. First, our study focused on English publications, which inevitably missed some important studies published in other languages. Second, although we used WoSCC in our bibliometric analysis, there may be some articles from other databases (eg, Scopus, MEDLINE, and PubMed) that were not retrieved. However, this study provides a bibliometric analysis of publications on HIV/AIDS among students and is based only on Web of Science data. Through visual analysis software, readers can clearly understand the number of articles, academic cooperation, research hotspots, and research frontiers. It provides hotspots and emerging trends for future research.

The study identified countries/regions and institutions contributing to the research area of HIV/AIDS among students and revealed research hotspots and emerging trends. The field of research on HIV/AIDS among students was growing rapidly. The United States was at the center, and the University of California system was the core institution. However, academic collaboration should be strengthened. Future research may focus on exploring gay students, sexual health, adherence, barriers, mental health, HIV testing, stigma, and antiretroviral therapy.