Bibliometric and social network analysis in scientific research on precision agriculture
Date
2018-11-10
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Indian Academy of Sciences
Abstract
Precision agriculture (PA) is used to improve agricultural processes. A better understanding of PA
as well as the evolution of the research status through the available literature are reported and discussed
in this study. The Web of Science (WoS) was used to obtain the research records under
study. Indicators of scientific productivity, collaboration between countries and research impact
were evaluated through a social network analysis. The keywords included in the publications and
subject areas under which the research was published were also evaluated through subject analysis.
A total of 2027 articles were analysed from 1994 to 2014. The most productive journals were
‘Computers and Electronics in Agriculture’ (n = 191) and ‘Precision Agriculture’ (n = 110). The
most frequent keywords were ‘management’ (n = 243), ‘yield’ (n = 231), ‘soil’ (n = 198) and
‘variability’ (n = 190). The collaboration network showed the United States occupying a central
position, in combination with some leading countries such as Brazil, Germany, People’s Republic
of China, Canada, Australia and Spain. A steady increase in PA research was identified during the
last decade, which was even more sharp between 2010 and 2014. The increased importance of PA
research has recently led to the birth of specific journals such as Precision Agriculture. The increasing
number of journals that publish articles related to the topics included in the WoS must
also be considered. The network analysis identified a number of developed countries in the hotspot
of international collaboration.
Description
CITATION: Aleixandre-Tudo, J. L., et al. 2018. Bibliometric and social network analysis in scientific research on precision agriculture. Current Science, 115(9):1653-1667, doi:10.18520/cs/v115/i9/1653-1667.
The original publication is available at https://www.currentscience.ac.in
The original publication is available at https://www.currentscience.ac.in
Keywords
Bibliometrics, Agriculture -- Data processing, Precision farming -- Research
Citation
Aleixandre-Tudo, J. L., et al. 2018. Bibliometric and social network analysis in
scientific research on precision agriculture. Current Science, 115(9):1653-1667, doi:10.18520/cs/v115/i9/1653-1667