Three decades of halal food scholarly publications: A PubMed bibliometric network analysis

Abstract

Halal food research has witnessed a distinct proliferation during the past decade. In this article, we examine the intellectual structure of the field based on 302 PubMed documents written by 686 authors representing 45 nations and spanning 30 years (1990–2019). The study applies bibliometric network techniques to explore the halal food impactful authors, influential journals, collaboration networks and emerging trends. Social network analysis (SNA) techniques are also used to unearth and mine the intellectual structure of the field. Additionally, we use keyword co‐occurrence techniques to scrutinize the field's major schools of thought. Results show that the most impactful PubMed outlets publishing halal food research include Food Chemistry, Meat Science, and the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Results also show that the authors' collaboration network in halal food is sparse. Furthermore, results reveal a global “North–South” schism between nations within the domain. Finally, the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) applied to obtain the halal food research conceptual map and its intellectual structure reflects the depth and breadth of the field.