Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Delphi and expert consensus methods are increasingly used to inform clinical guidance, evidence generation, and healthcare decision-making. However, little is known about how their use has evolved across biomedical literature. This study characterized publication trends in Delphi and consensus-based research over the past five years.
METHODS: Medline was searched (June 2026) using four complementary search strategies incorporating MeSH terms, title/abstract keywords, and all-field searches for Delphi and consensus terminology. Searches were limited to English-language human studies published within the past five years and indexed as consensus statements, evidence syntheses, guidelines, or practice guidelines.
RESULTS: A total of 15,505 unique publications met the search criteria, representing one of the largest assessments of Delphi and consensus methodology publication trends to date. Publications peaked in 2025 (n=3,955), representing an 11% increase from the previous year. Publications appeared across 2,471 journals, with BMJ Open (n=161) and PLOS One (n=151) publishing the greatest numbers. More than 6,000 publications included "consensus" in the title, while over 1,400 explicitly referenced "Delphi." Among titles containing "expert consensus" or "Delphi" (n=2,341), international and European perspectives predominated, with oncology representing the most frequently studied therapeutic area.
CONCLUSIONS: The breadth of publication across nearly 2,500 journals and the continued year-over-year growth suggest that consensus methodologies have become a mainstream approach for addressing areas where empirical evidence alone is insufficient. The expanding use of Delphi and expert consensus methods highlights their growing role in generating decision-relevant evidence for clinical practice, health technology assessment, and healthcare policy.