Bibliometric analysis of scientific research carried out on cocoa in Mexico

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the scientific contributions made in Mexico on cocoa cultivation during the 1999-2022 period and quantify the contribution by gender.

Design/methodology/approach: The scientific articles were compiled from the main publishers (Elsevier, MDPI, Wiley, and Springer), database of articles from open access journals (Conricyt, Scielo, Redalyc, Latindex, Claryvate Analytics, Periodica, and DOAJ), and the open-access web search engine Google Scholar. The Gephi software was used to build networks of the researchers’ affiliation institutions and co-authorship networks.

Results: Scientific production showed an exponential growth of scientific texts at the national level where cocoa was the research topic. In the last 22 years, productivity was concentrated in three main topics: biotechnology (18.51%), economics (15.26%), and diseases (13.31%). The research was focused on the Mexican southeast, and was led by the Colegio de Postgraduados, the National Institute of Forest, Agricultural, and Livestock Research, and the Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco. The male gender presented a higher percentage of articles published as first and corresponding author.

Limitations of the study/implications: The documents analyzed are exclusively scientific articles.

Findings/conclusions: There is a lack of research regarding species propagation techniques, ethnobotany, irrigation, plant physiology, and the influence of indigenous cultures and groups on the transfer of knowledge.

Keywords: Theobroma cacao, bibliometric analysis, co-authorship networks, gender.