Research on “Western Ghats”: A Scientometric Analysis

Abstract

Older than the Himalaya mountains, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes. The site’s high mountain forest ecosystems influence the Indian monsoon weather pattern. This mountain chain is recognized as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity along with Sri Lanka. The forests of the Western Ghats include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests in the world. At least 325 globally threatened (IUCN Red Data List) species occur in the Western Ghats. The globally threatened flora and fauna in the Western Ghats are represented by 229 plant species, 31 mammal species, 15 bird species, 43 amphibian species and many reptile species. Of the total 325 globally threatened species in the Western Ghats, 129 are classified as Vulnerable, 145 as endangered and 51 as critically endangered (UNESCO). It is always good to integrate the significant concepts and subjects into Library and Information Science practices. Hence, the applications of LIS principles contribute further for the growth of the subject domain. In this relevance, the present study aimed at identifies and analysis the quality research output on “Western Ghats” and its Geographical, Social, Geological, Political, and Natural importance. Internationally recognized indexing, analytical and citation database of research publications known as Web of Science chosen as source of this study to measure the research in terms of quantity and quality. The study reveals that there 2,204 publications on Western Ghats are indexed for the study period that is 28 years. There are 609 journals published the research on “Western Ghats” written by 4294 authors affiliated to 1492 research institutions and organization from 66 countries. It is found that more number of research articles are sponsored by the funding agencies across the globe, of which the research organization form India contributed major stake, which is followed by National Science Foundation (NSF) (0.54 %), Royal Society of England (0.36 %). India as top most country contributed 86 % of the total research output which is followed by USA (12.16 %) and England (5.7 %). The publication on “Western Ghats” research scored 20,088 times cited with a h-index 57 for the time span. With regard to research areas Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (7.1 %), and Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) (5.7 %) are the top major areas in which the “Western Ghats” research outcome is documented.