30 years of research on insect galls in Brazil: A scientometric review

Abstract

The first systematic studies on insect galls in Brazil date to the early 20th century, after which research on insect galls remained dormant in the country, with interest not reviving until the 1980s. The aim of this study was is to document historical trends in publications about insect galls in Brazil over the last 30 years. Papers about insect galls and galling species in Brazil published in peer-reviewed journals from 1988 to 2017 were compiled. A total of 1,378 papers were analyzed, of which 182 addressed insect galls in Brazil. The results showed that the number of publications on the subject has been increasing over the last 30 years, and especially in the last decade. The diversity of journals that published on the subject has also been increasing. The studies were concentrated on the following topics: ecology (94 papers), inventory (29) and taxonomy (27). Most of the insect gall inventories in Brazil took place in the Southeast Region (29 papers), followed by the Central-West and Northeast regions, with eight papers each. This study documents a trend toward increasing scientific production on insect galls in Brazil, but with significant geographical bias: the researchers involved are concentrated in the Southeast Brazilian region.