Identifying the evolution and the fronts of research on themes through bibliometric mapping

an analysis on the Social Impacts of Tourism

Abstract

This exploratory paper aimed to demonstrate two bibliometric techniques: the bibliographic coupling, which allows mapping research fronts, and the direct citation analysis, which demonstrates the theoretical evolution of research themes. Relational review studies, in which these techniques are included, are still poorly produced in Brazilian research in Tourism and Hospitality, which ends up being a limiter for the development and deepening of projects. To demonstrate the applicability of such techniques, the research theme Social Impacts of Tourism was selected, from the perspective of residents. Among the methodological procedures adopted for the analysis of the theme over a period of 30 years (1988-2018) are: software selection, extraction of the set of papers in English in the Web of Science database, data normalization, data treatment in descriptive statistics, histographic, network analysis and content analysis. As main results, the effectiveness of these techniques is observed, especially when evaluating the configuration and development of scientific production, which can assist other researchers in the process of preparing their research projects. It is also possible to propose an agenda for future research on the theme used as an example of the applicability of the techniques. Finally, some reflections on the use of bibliometric techniques in Brazil are encouraged.