Research output on terrorism by India and Pakistan: a bibliometric study

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore the scholarly literature published on “Terrorism” by India and Pakistan and has an in-depth bibliometric analysis of its various facets. Design/methodology/approach Data for the study were harvested from the “Web of Science” one of the widely used and trusted indexing and abstracting source used by research scholars all over the world. The search was confined to the literature published on “Terrorism” by India and Pakistan. A total of 125 results were retrieved and out of them 105 were found relevant. The data were later analyzed on different parameters. Findings India and Pakistan have started to conduct and publish research on “Terrorism” since 1990. However, only five articles were published till 2000. Presently, out of total 105 publications, India contributed 57 (54 per cent) and Pakistan contributed 48 (46 per cent) articles on Terrorism. Majority of the articles (93 per cent) were contributed by the individual researchers without any financial support from the funding agencies. The authorship pattern of the articles revealed that 40.95 per cent (43) articles were contributed by single author, whereas 59.05 per cent (62) were authored in collaboration. In terms of research collaboration, Pakistani authors collaborated with authors of six nations of the world, whereas Indian authors collaborated only with researchers of three countries. Most of the research articles were published from the authors affiliated with universities and other higher educational institutions (64.76 per cent), followed by colleges (12.38 per cent) and other government departments. Most of the articles were published during last five years from 2011-2015 (52.38 per cent), followed by 2006-2010 (28.57 per cent). These articles were published in more than 80 journals and the majority were published from England (36, 34.29 per cent) followed by United States of America (26, 24.76 per cent) and Netherlands (13, 12.38 per cent) simultaneously. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study need to be cautioned as the data were harvested from “Web of Science” only. Practical implications The paper is useful for politicians, defense ministries, academicians, researchers and many other interested agencies such as human rights organizations or activists. Originality/value This is the first paper providing information on research output of India and Pakistan on Terrorism and will serve as bed rock for future research in the field.