A Characterization of Fire-Management Research: A Bibliometric Review of Global Networks and Themes

Abstract

Although humans have interacted with wildfires for millennia, a science-based approach to fire management has evolved in recent decades. This paper reviews the development of fire-management research, focusing on publications that use this term in their title, abstract, or keywords identified on the Scopus platform. This resulted in the identification of 5624 documents published between 1973 and 2021. Publication rates have particularly increased since 2010. The paper details the characteristics of this body of the literature, including the main authors, institutions, and countries. Furthermore, it considers the bibliographic networks, main research foci, and the publications’ study areas. First, these analyses provide researchers interested in fire management an overview of the field and its most prominent sources, authors, and publications. Second, they invite reflection on the current state of fire-management research. In particular, the considerable disparities in spatial foci and countries of authorship suggest that the challenges of today’s problems in fire management are more likely to be overcome with a more balanced global research effort.