Detecting research topic trends by author-defined keyword frequency

Understanding How Indigenous Knowledge Contributes to Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience: A Systematic Literature Review

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today threatening societies and the future of the planet. The impacts of climate change are more severe in poor and marginalised populations like Indigenous communities where people rely heavily on their Indigenous Knowledge (IK) to adapt to the changing environment. Climate change adaptation and resilience are critical for the survival of Indigenous communities under the threat of climate change. This systematic literature review seeks to understand how IK contributes to climate change adaptation and resilience. A total of 71 papers from Scopus were analysed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. It investigated three research questions: (i) How is IK understood in climate change studies? (ii) What kind of IK is used to address climate change and enhance adaptation and resilience? and finally, (iii) What could be done to maximise the use of IK towards enhancing climate adaptation and resilience? The study found that Indigenous people use IK to predict extreme climatic conditions, prepare for it, and live through it making use of Indigenous adaptation strategies in multiple manifestations. The solutions to maximise the benefits of IK promote two dominant themes requiring more research on IK and climate change with diverse focus areas and the need to bridge it with scientific knowledge. This review provides a starting point for such research that will draw upon IK to enhance climate adaptation and resilience towards meaningful sustainable development.

From Origins to Trends: A Bibliometric Examination of Ethical Food Consumption

Ethical food consumption has gained significant attention in the past years, reflecting a societal shift towards ethical behavior. Our study examines the evolution of ethical food consumption research over the past three decades, aiming to map its transformation. We identified key trends, influential contributors, and major thematic clusters through a bibliometric analysis, employing VOSviewer (v.1.6.18) for bibliometric visualization, focusing on citation networks and keyword o-occurrences to reveal the field's structure and dynamics. We made extensive use of the Web of Science database, where we selected 1096 relevant articles and review papers. Our analysis shows a notable rise in publications starting in 2005, with a peak in 2022, indicating increased scholarly interest in the topic. The findings underscore the importance of integrating empathy and human values into ethical food consumption, highlighting the critical roles of animal welfare, sustainability, and social justice. Despite a strong pro-ethical attitude among consumers, a significant "attitude-behavior gap" persists, emphasizing the need for strategies that bridge this divide. Our results emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary efforts to align ethical practices with broader societal goals, offering valuable insights for future research and policy-making to promote sustainable and ethical food consumption worldwide.

Key topics in social science research on COVID-19: An automated literature analysis

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a significant increase in academic research in the realm of social sciences. As such, there is an increasing need for the scientific community to adopt effective and efficient methods to examine the potential role and contribution of social sciences in the fight against COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to identify the key topics and explore publishing trends in social science research pertaining to COVID-19 via automated literature analysis.

METHODS

The automated literature analysis employed utilizes keyword analysis and topic modelling technique, specifically Latent Dirichlet Allocation, to highlight the most relevant research terms, overarching research themes and research trends within the realm of social science research on COVID-19.

RESULTS

The focus of research and topics were derived from 9733 full-text academic papers. The bulk of social science research on COVID-19 centres on the following themes: 'Clinical Treatment', 'Epidemic Crisis', 'Mental Influence', 'Impact on Students', 'Lockdown Influence' and 'Impact on Children'.

CONCLUSION

This study adds to our understanding of key topics in social science research on COVID-19. The automated literature analysis presented is particularly useful for librarians and information specialists keen to explore the role and contributions of social science topics in the context of pandemics.