Worldwide Research on Geoparks through Bibliometric Analysis

TLDR

Since the 1991 Digne Convention, research on Geoparks has expanded, emphasizing the preservation of geological sites through sustainable tourism and the objective evaluation of geomorphological heritage and geo‑tourism for local sustainable development. This article analyzes academic research on Geoparks using Scopus publications from 2002–2020. The authors employed bibliometric analysis and VOSviewer to map literature, following a three‑phase process of search criteria and source identification, data extraction, and analysis and interpretation. The analysis shows Geoparks as a rapidly growing scientific discipline, with bibliometric maps revealing six main themes—from UNESCO Global Geoparks to Geo‑tourism‑Sustainable Tourism—illustrating the field’s intellectual structure, current interests, and potential development worldwide.

Abstract

Since the Digne Convention in 1991, the literature related to Geoparks has gained a growing interest on the academy’s part, especially in achieving the preservation of geological interest sites through sustainable tourism. This article aims to provide an analysis of the academic research on Geoparks, based on publications in the Scopus database in the period 2002–2020. Bibliometric analysis methods and bibliographic display maps were examined using VOSviewer software. The bibliometric analysis process comprises three phases: (i) Search Criteria and Source Identification, (ii) software and data extraction, and (iii) data analysis and interpretation. The results show geoparks in full growth as a scientific discipline, thanks to the contribution of various authors, institutions, journals, and related topics that confirm the importance of this field of study. Additionally, bibliometric maps lead to an understanding of the intellectual structure of the subject, in which keyword co-occurrence analysis shows six main themes, ranging from ‘UNESCO Global Geoparks’ to ‘Geo-tourism-Sustainable Tourism’. this, combined with maps of co-citation, broadly exhibits this structure and development, showing areas of current interest and potential development, thus offering the latest knowledge on Geopark research worldwide. There is a growing concentration of research on geomorphological heritage and geo-tourism, focusing on methodologies to evaluate the specialities of this type of heritage and define the concept of geo-tourism; there is a great interest especially in the evaluation and identification of geo-site/geo-morphosites which try to eliminate subjectivity in methods and focus on sustainable development of the localities.