Climate change study in Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2018: An online systematic review for future directions

Abstract

In this paper, we perform a bibliometric analysis of published climate change research in Burkina Faso for the period of 1987 to 2018. More specifically, this article aims at (1) revealing the temporal, and categorical patterns in climate change research; (2) summarizing the global research trends from multiple perspectives; and (3) providing an alternative demonstration of research advancements about climate change which may serve as a potential guide for future research in Burkina Faso. Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar were used to collect publications data. The initial search yielded five hundred and sixty-six publications. After removing duplicated documents and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria, 349 documents were retained for analysis. The study reveals that since the beginning of this century, the study on climate change is increasing in the scientific community, and publications are widely distributed in a large number of journals. Climate change has been studied in connection with other topics such as agriculture, health and  diseases, water resources and  wetlands. These results suggest that research productivity in the area of climate change in Burkina Faso has increased since the beginning of this century. However, there is a lack of studies connecting climate change and aquatic fauna in Burkina Faso. These results could help to orient the national research in the matter of climate change and its implications.   Key words: Climate change, bibliometrics, West Africa.