Bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature on food security in the context of climate change from 1980 to 2019

Abstract

Background Climate change poses a threat to global food security. Assessing research activity on food security in the presence of climate change is important for policymakers and funding sponsors to make future decisions. The current study aimed to give an overview of research activity on food security in the context of food security. Methodology A bibliometric methodology was implemented using the Scopus database for the period from 1980 to 2019. The search strategy utilized the title/abstract search of keywords related to food security and climate change with certain constraints. Bibliometric indicators, frequent author keywords, research themes, and international research collaboration were presented. Results The search query retrieved 5960 documents. The last decade of the study period witnessed an increasing trend in both the number of publications and the number of cumulative citations. The top five author keywords were climate change, food security, drought, adaptation, agriculture, and water scarcity. Mapping the retrieved documents showed four general research themes: water security, crop yield, food availability, and health. The Sustainability journal ranked first in terms of productivity while documents published in the Global Change Biology journal received the highest number of citations per document. At the country level, the USA ranked first in terms of numbers, India ranked first in terms of research productivity per GDP/capita, and the UK ranked first in terms of the number of citations per document. France and the Netherlands had the highest percentage of documents with international authors while India and China had the least. At the regional level, the European region had the highest contribution and the Eastern Mediterranean region had the least contribution. Half of the top-cited documents in the field were review articles and appeared in prestigious journals. At the institutional level, the active list included three Chinese and two American institutions. Conclusion Food security under the umbrella of climate change is an emerging global challenge. Research on new technologies to mitigate the impact of climate change on food security is a top priority. Research contribution and collaboration from world regions with limited resources should be encouraged.

Evolution of the Global Scientific Research on the Environmental Impact of Food Production from 1970 to 2020

“…Such a trend was in line with that resulting from a research article that analyzed food security in the context of climate change from 1980 to 2019 [13] and retrieved as many as 5960 documents. The first paper appeared in the years 1968-1970 and until 1990 the overall number of papers published remained almost insignificant; then, two increasing trends were clearly identified.…”

“…A second trend extending from 2000 to 2020 exhibited a definitively steeper growth rate of about 800 papers per year consequently not only to the recent attention to the environmental consequences of food production and consumption, but also to the increasing number of affiliations/authors publishing in this research field. Such a trend was in line with that resulting from a research article that analyzed food security in the context of climate change from 1980 to 2019 [13] and retrieved as many as 5960 documents. The first paper appeared in the years 1968-1970 and until 1990 the overall number of papers published remained almost insignificant; then, two increasing trends were clearly identified.…”

“…Several bibliometric studies have been recently published to assess the scientific productivity related to climate change [9][10][11], food security [12], as well as food security in the context of climate change [13] or food waste [14]. Other scientometric reviews analyzed the effect of climate change on carbon sink [15], water quality [16], and human health [13]. However, no bibliometric study has so far attempted to analyze the scientific literature regarding the environmental assessment of food production and consumption.…”

İklim Değişikliği ve Gıda Güvenliği Konulu Hakem Denetimli Makalelerin Bibliyometrik Profili

“…Sağlıkla ilgili literatüre en çok katkı yapan ülkenin Amerika Birleşik Devletleri olduğu belirlenmiştir. Sweileh (2020b), gerçekleştirdiği çalışmada iklim değişikliği bağlamında gıda güvencesi konulu makaleleri bibliyometrik analize tabi tutmuştur. 1980-2019 yılları arasında toplamda 5960 yayım incelenmiştir.…”

Climate change: a bibliometric review

“…In the literature, it was seen that there are bibliometric analysis studies examining different variables for climate change. Rana (2020) were examined climate change and disaster awareness, Wang, Zhao, & Wang (2018) were stated that climate change adaptation, Sweileh (2020) were examined climate change and food security, Huang, Chen & Zhou (2020) were examined climate change and carbon emissions, Omoregbe et al . (2020) the were examined effect of climate change on reducing carbon emissions, Belter & Seidel (2013) were examined climate change research in engineering.…”