Figure 1

Cumulative number of publications using PubMed searches for articles on pulmonary fibrosis, excluding cystic fibrosis. Search strategy (open circles) was ‘((lung OR pulmonary) AND (fibrosis OR fibrotic) AND english [la] AND hasabstract) NOT cystic’, or when referred to in the title, search strategy (closed circles) was ‘((lung [ti] OR pulmonary [ti]) AND (fibrosis [ti] OR fibrotic [ti]) AND english [la] AND hasabstract) NOT cystic [ti]’. These cumulative numbers most likely underestimate the realistic breadth of literature on the topic, as pulmonary fibrosis is often described using various terms (fibrosing alveolitis, interstitial lung disease), and a large body of literature has focused on cellular and molecular responses in cell culture (fibroblasts, epithelial, endothelial, and inflammatory cells) without mentioning pulmonary fibrosis in the title or the abstract.