Mapping India’s Scientific Research on Heat Waves and Climate Change: A Bibliometric Study

IJEP 46(4): 359-369 : Vol. 46 Issue. 4 (April 2026)

Full Text

Md Mainul Sk1, Rumana Khatun2, Tapas Ranjan Patra3*, Md Motibur Rahman3 and Md Kaiyum Shaikh4

1. Rajendra University, Department of Geography, Balangir – 767 002, Odisha, India
2. Utkal University, P.G. Department of Geography, Bhubaneswar – 751 004, Odisha, India
3. Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University, S.N.S.R.K.S. College, Department of Geography, Saharsa – 852 201, Bihar, India
4. Kalinga University, Department of Library Science, Naya Raipur – 492 101, Chhattisgarh, India

Abstract

This research examines India’s scientific research performance in heat waves and climate change from 2014 to 2023. A total of 18,344 publications retrieved from the reputable Scopus database were analyzed to systematically investigate research output, scientific impact and collaborations. The study explores annual publication trends, document types, source impact, prolific authors, co-authorship networks, co-citations, institutional contributions and keyword trend analysis using tools, such as VOS Viewer, Bibliometrix R and MS Excel. The results reveal significant growth in research activity, with 2023 being the most productive year (4,286 publications) and 2014 the least (672 publications). Lal R and Banaras Hindu University stand out as leading contributors, with Lal R authoring 66 publications, while Banaras Hindu University is the most productive institution with 759 publications. Procedia Computer Science led journals by publishing 281 articles. The analysis also highlights annual scientific output, citation metrics from the Indian perspective, collaboration rates and thematic research patterns. Overall, the findings indicate increasing attention on heat waves and climate change in India and a growing engagement with global climate challenges.

Keywords

Climate change, Heat wave, India, Scopus, Bibliometric, VOSviewer, H-index

References

  1. Das, Gogoi, A. and Kumar, N. 2023. Impact of climate change on agriculture and adaptation: Farmers’ experience in northeast India. J. Inf. Optimization Sci., 44(1): 81-95. DOI: 10.47974/ JIOS-1297.
  2. Sk., M.M., Chakraborty, P., Shaikh, M.K., Patra, T.R., Mishra, S.R., Naik, D. and Sardar, A. 2025. Sustainable development and climate change in India: Understanding the key themes and emerging areas. Curr. World Env., 20(1): 155-181. DOI: 10.1 2944/CWE.20.1.13.
  3. Shaktawat, A. and Vadhera, S. 2020. Assessment of hydropower for climate change mitigation and sustainable development using multi-criteria analysis. J. Statistics Manage. Systems. 23(1): 113–124. DOI: 10.1080/09720510.2020.1714153.
  4. Nori-Sarma, A., Anderson, G.B., Rajiva, A., Azhar, G.S., Gupta, P., Pednekar, M.S., Son, J.Y., Peng, R.D. and Bell, M.L. 2019. The impact of heat waves on mortality in northwest India. Env. Res., 176: 108546. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108546.
  5. Chakraborty, P., Sk., M.M., Patra, T.R., Sarkar, L., Ghosh, S. and Sardar, K. 2025. Urban heat island dynamics of the fast-growing Cuttack-Bhubaneswar twin city: A geospatial-temporal analysis. Curr. World Env., 20(1): 337-353. DOI: 10.12944/CWE. 20.1.26.
  6. Sk., M.M., Ali, S.A. and Ahmad, A. 2020. Optimal sanitary landfill site selection for solid waste disposal in Durgapur city using geographic information system and multi-criteria evaluation technique. KN J. Cartography Geogr. Inf., 70: 163-180. DOI: 10.1007/s42489-020-00052-1.
  7. Trenberth, K.E. 2018. Climate change caused by human activities is happening and it already has major consequences. J. Energy Natural Resour. Law. 36(4): 463-481. DOI: 10.1080/026468 11.2018.1450895
  8. IPCC. 2023. Climate change 2023: The physical science basis. Sixth assessment report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
  9. Pall, P., Aina, T., Stone, D.A., Stott, P.A., Nozawa, T., Hilberts, A.G.J., Lohmann, D. and Allen, M.R. 2011. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas contribution to flood risk in England and Wales in autumn 2000. Nature. 470(7334): 382–385. DOI: 10.1038/nature09762.
  10. Nageswararao, M.M., Sinha, P., Mohanty, U.C. and Mishra, S. 2020. Occurrence of more heat waves over the central east coast of India in the recent warming era. Pure Appl. Geophys., 177(2): 1143–1155. DOI: 10.1007/s00024-019-02304-2.
  11. De Bont, J., Nori-Sarma, A., Stafoggia, M., Banerjee, T., Ingole, V., Jaganathan, S., Mandal, S., Rajiva, A., Krishna, B., Kloog, I., Lane, K., Mall, R.K., Tiwari, A., Wei, Y., Wellenius, G.A., Prabhakaran, D., Schwartz, J., Prabhakaran, P. and Ljungman, P. 2024. Impact of heat waves on all-cause mortality in India: A comprehensive multi-city study. Env. Int., 184: 108461. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108461.
  12. Yadav, R., Giri, R.K., Puviarasan, N. and Bhan, S.C. 2022. Annual, seasonal, monthly and diurnal IPWV analysis and precipitation forecasting over the Indian subcontinent based on monthly thresholds of ground-based GNSS-IPWV. Adv. Space Res., 70 (10): 3122-3136. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2022.07.066.
  13. Hobday, A.J., Alexander, L.V., Perkins, S.E., Smale, D.E., Straub, S.C., Oliver, E.C.J., Benthuysen, J.A., Burrows, M.T., Donat, M.G., Feng, M., Holbrook, N.J., Moore, P.J., Scannell, H.A., Gupta, A.S. and Wernberg, T. 2016. A hierarchical approach to defining marine heat waves. Progress Oceanogr., 141: 227–238. DOI: 10.1016/j.pocean.2015.12.014.
  14. Lobell, D.B., Schlenker, W. and Costa-Roberts, J. 2011. Climate trends and global crop production since 1980. Sci., 333(6042): 616–620. DOI: 10.11 26/science.1204531.
  15. Mastrorillo, M., Licker, R., Bohra-Mishra, P., Fagiolo, G., Estes, L.D. and Oppenheimer, M. 2016. The influence of climate variability on internal migration flows in South Africa. Global Env. Change. 39: 155–169. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016. 04.014.
  16. Sk., M.M. 2025. Assessing vulnerability of a solid waste management system through GIS and the rank sum method: A case study of Durgapur city, India. Adv. Env. Tech., 11(1): 36-62. DOI: 10.22 104/AET.2024.7053.1939.
  17. Sk., M.M. 2019. Challenges in the management of single-use plastic carrier bags in Aligarh city: A study on sellers and consumer attitude. Int. J. Res. Social Sci., 9(7): 732-750.
  18. Kumar, M., George, R.J. and Anisha, P.S. 2023. Bibliometric analysis for medical research. Indian J. Psychol. Medicine. 45(3): 277-282. DOI: 10.117 7/02537176221103617.
  19. Isfandyari-Moghaddam, A., Saberi, M.K., Tahma-sebi-Limoni, S., Mohammadian, S. and Naderbeigi, F. 2023. Global scientific collaboration: A social network analysis and data mining of the co-authorship networks. J. Inf. Sci., 49(4): 1126-1141. DOI: 10.1177/016555152110406 55.
  20. Raan, A.V. 2019. Measuring science: basic principles and application of advanced bibliometrics. In Springer handbook of science and technology indicators. Ed Glänzel, W., Moed, H.F., Schmoch, U. and Thelwall, M. Springer-Verlag, Cham. pp 237-280. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-02511-3_10.
  21. Price, D.J.S. 1963. Little science, big science. Columbia University Press. DOI: 10.7312/pric91844.
  22. Eck, N.J. and Waltman, L. 2010. Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer programme for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics. 84(2): 523-538. DOI: 10. 1007/s11192-009-0146-3.
  23. Borgman, C.L. and Furner, J. 2002. Scholarly communication and bibliometrics. Annual Review Inf. Sci. Tech., 36: 2-72. DOI: 10.1002/aris.1440360102.
  24. Haunschild, R., Bornmann, L. and Marx, W. 2016. Climate change research in view of bibliometrics. PLoS ONE. 11(7): e0160393. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160393.
  25. Russo, S., Sillmann, J. and Fischer, E.M. 2015. Top ten European heat waves since 1950 and their occurrence in the coming decades. Env. Res. Letters. 10(12): 124003. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/124003.
  26. Shettar, I.M., Kaddipujar, M. and Hadagali, G.S. 2024. Global publications on heat waves: A scientometrics analysis. SRM J. Res. Manage. Tech., 2: 737-750.
  27. Bornmann, L., Haunschild, R. and Mutz, R. 2021. Growth rates of modern science: a latent piecewise growth curve approach to model publication numbers from established and new literature databases. Humanities Social Sci. Commun., 8(1): 1-15. DOI: 10.1057/s415 99-021-00903-w.
  28. Connaway, L.S. and Radford, M.L. 2021. Research methods in library and information science. Bloomsbury Publishing, USA.
  29. Berlin, I.J., Jose, J., Resmi, S., Priyadarsini, G. and Vinoj, M.N. 2024. Heat waves: A bibliometric analysis of thermotherapy research. Cureus. 16(7): e65700. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.65700.
  30. Laino, E., Paranunzio, R. and Iglesias, G. 2024. Scientometric review on multiple climate-related hazards indices. Sci. Total Env., 945: 174004. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174004.
  31. Martín-Martín, A., Orduna-Malea, E. and López-Cózar, E.D. 2018. Coverage of highly-cited documents in Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus: a multidisciplinary comparison. Scientometrics. 116(3): 2175-2188. DOI: 10.1007/s11192-018-2820-9.
  32. Singh, V.K., Singh, P., Karmakar, M., Leta, J. and Mayr, P. 2021. The journal coverage of Web of Science, Scopus and dimensions: A comparative analysis. Scientometrics. 126: 5113-5142. DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03948-5.
  33. Cabeza-Ramírez, L.J., Cañizares, S.M.S. and Fuentes-García, F.J. 2020. From bibliometrics to entrepreneurship: A study of studies. Revista Española Documentación Científica. 43(3): e268. DOI: 10.3989/redc.2020.3.1702.
  34. Chansanam, W. and Li, C. 2022. Scientometrics of poverty research for sustainability development: Trend analysis of the 1964–2022 data through Scopus. Sustain., 14(9): 5339. DOI: 10.3390/su14 095339.
  35. Aria, M. and Cuccurullo, C. 2017. bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. J. Informetrics. 11(4): 959–975. DOI: 10.1016 /j.joi.2017.08.007.