Publication statistics on Sun and heliosphere

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the evolution and geographic distribution of solar and heliospheric physics research over the past century using publication data from NASA/ADS, highlighting growth trends and publication venues.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the solar and heliospheric physics research community's growth, geographic distribution, and publication patterns over the last century.

Findings

Research community grew from dozens to over 4,000 researchers.

90% of publications originate from 20 countries.

Major journals include Astrophysical Journal and Journal of Geophysical Research.

Abstract

The professional literature provides one means to review the evolution and geographic distribution of the scientific communities engaged in solar and heliospheric physics. With help of the Astrophysics Data System (NASA/ADS), I trace the growth of the research community over the past century from a few dozen researchers early in the 20-th Century to over 4,000 names with over refereed 2,000 publications in recent years, with 90% originating from 20 countries, being published in 90 distinct journals. Overall, the lead authors of these publications have their affiliations for 45% in Europe, 29% in the Americas, 24% in Australasia, and 2% in Africa and Arab countries. Publications most frequently appear (in decreasing order) in the Astrophysical Journal, the Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics), Solar Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Advances in Space Research (adding up to 59% of all publications in 2015).