Geodiversity of Research: A Comparison of Geographical Topic Focus and Author Location using SDG 2: Zero Hunger as a Case Study

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the geographic diversity of hunger research, revealing disparities between affected countries and author locations, and discusses factors influencing these patterns.

Contribution

It introduces a large-scale analysis of hunger research geodiversity using machine learning and examines the influence of infrastructure and authorship on research focus.

Findings

Only 41% of hunger papers from affected countries have local authors.

Fewer locally based authors are in first or last author positions.

Research infrastructure and authorship recognition impact geographic research patterns.

Abstract

This study examined the geodiversity of research through comparing topic focus with author location using SDG 2: Zero hunger as a case study. As the research was related to hunger, papers were mapped on to the Global Hunger Index country categories as convenient classification. The publication dataset comprised 60,000 papers from the Dimensions database that have been associated with hunger research using Digital Science machine learning algorithm that enhances expert led search strategies. Only 41% hunger-related publications that focus on countries most affected by hunger feature authors affiliated to institutions in those countries. Even fewer of those publications feature locally based authors in first or last position. These numbers gradually reverse as the level of hunger declines. We analyse sample papers in an attempt to understand the reasons for these trends. These included differences in research infrastructure, sub-authorship recognition such as acknowledgements, and limitations of the relationship between country mention and real topical focus. We did not find evidence of widespread differences between senior and overall authorship and consequently urge caution before judging international collaborations as helicopter research based only on author country affiliations and authorship position.