Global research trends, publication characteristics and knowledge domains of plant reproductive biology: A bibliometric and knowledge mapping analysis of 50 years

Abstract

Reproductive biology is a very important and essential component for species diversity, and evolution from simpler to complex forms. The objective of this study is to explore the research landscape on plant reproductive biology (PRB) as published in the Scopus database from 1972 to 2022 (50 years). The bibliometric and knowledge map analyses were used to analyze the plant reproductive biology, current trends, hot topics, maps of co-citations, maps of co-occurrence, top ten countries with total published documents, total citations, average citations per document, and top ten journals with number of citations in the Scopus data base from 1972 to 2022. Total 1112 publications were published during the past 50 years. Our analysis indicates that conservation, genetics, evolution, pollination, and biodiversity are the critical topics related to plant reproductive biology. The findings showed that the USA, China, U.K., and Brazil were the most productive countries in terms of plant reproductive biology research publication. The level of collaboration between the countries was significantly high for this research topic. This research is an early effort to understand the development and evolution of plant reproductive biology in the last 50 years. The citation footprint and authorship networks which have been established during this study, will help in promoting research capacity, trend of research in this field, and contribute to improve research culture and awareness in this important area of conservation biology.