Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is a large conversational artificial intelligence (AI)-based language model developed by OpenAI (San Francisco, CA). (OpenAI, 2023). OpenAI released the GPT 3.5 series, the free version of ChatGPT, on November 30, 2022, followed by paid GPT-4 version on March 14, 2023. The integration of AI in nursing education remains a subject of debate among its stakeholders, but it potentially offers significant benefits in the nursing field (O’Connor, 2021). Choi et al. (2023) reported that the effects of ChatGPT such as its effect on nursing students' knowledge acquisition and learning outcomes should be investigated. ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize nursing education by increasing students’ interaction with technology, providing students with quick and convenient access to information and improving their skills in producing text-based information (Sun & Hoelscher, 2023)

Bibliometric research in nursing science is becoming increasingly popular (Kokol & Blažun Vošner, 2019). Bibliometrics was first defined by Pritchard (1969) as the application of mathematical and statistical methods to analyze a research topic based on bibliographic sources. Bibliometric analysis is a methodology that provides detailed information about the intellectual structure and developing trends of a research topic or discipline by collecting and processing bibliometric data on a large scale (Donthu et al., 2021). Bibliometric analysis consists of the following two methods: performance analysis and scientific mapping. Performance analysis examines the research and publication performance of individuals, institutions and countries. Scientific mapping, meanwhile, analyzes scientific fields by revealing their structure and dynamics (Zupic & Čater, 2015). We chose bibliometric analysis for our study as it can be a valuable tool for identifying trends and patterns in the literature, highlighting key studies and authors and uncovering potential topics and trends for future research.

In previous studies, bibliometric analysis has been conducted on the use of ChatGPT in surgery (He et al., 2023), plastic surgery (H. Y. Liu et al., 2023), gynecology and obstetrics (Levin et al., 2023) and medicine (Barrington et al., 2023). However, no bibliometric analysis of ChatGPT has been conducted in the field of nursing education. A scoping review investigated the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality in clinical simulation for nursing education regarding pain and found that artificial intelligence studies were in their preliminary stages (Harmon et al., 2021). Buchanan et al. (2021) investigated the effects of artificial intelligence on nursing education in the Scoping Review. The integration of ChatGPT into nursing education is still in its early stages (J. Liu et al., 2023). A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of ChatGPT in nursing education can provide an overview of studies for researchers and nursing educators. This analysis can help identify the most prolific authors, countries and scientific trends in the field. In this context, bibliometric analysis may allow us to step down the 'Rabbit Hole'.

Purpose: This study was aimed at performing the bibliometric analysis of ChatGPT studies in

the field of nursing education.

Research questions:

What is the distribution of publications on ChatGPT by month?

What are the top five most cited publications in the ChatGPT field?

Who are the top five most cited authors in the ChatGPT field?

What are the dynamics of publications on ChatGPT in the literature (journals and countries)?

What are the most used keywords in publications on ChatGPT?

Which themes emerged after content analysis of ChatGPT research?