Exploring the Tendencies in Open-Access Research in Humanitarian Logistics: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The paper will focus on Humanitarian Logistics through a bibliometric analysis lens. Field is especially critical for managing disaster relief operations with efficient manner. Integration of technology and how well that integration is done is even more important. However, as is the nature of meta-analysis papers and literature reviews, the paper won’t be specifically about the subject matter itself but the research that is done on it. The main objective would be to gain an idea towards what the past academic literature focused on, and where to go from that point. Utilization of the VOSviewer program will enable us researchers to shine a bright light towards the unexplored areas, putting us in an almost intermediary role. Utilizing the VOSviewer bibliometric analysis tool, allowed us to explore the trends and gaps in the Humanitarian Logistics research as mentioned before. Visualization of co-citation networks, key and important authors and thematic cluster groups helped us identify the highly referenced studies and more under-explored areas. Further research into the collaboration networks shows us that there is very limited overlap between the academia and field practitioners, showing us the need for more interdisciplinary approaches. The interdisciplinary approaches particularly needed were identified as political science and information technology. Bridging the gap between academic research and practical application of technology in Disaster Logistics will only be done through shining a light on lacking areas in research shown to us by bibliometric research.