Structure and Trends of Worldwide Research on Durum Wheat by Bibliographic Mapping
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The manuscript "Structure and Trends of Worldwide Research on Durum Wheat" reports the analysis of research conducted on durum wheat worldwide from 1961 to 2022 using a bibliometric mapping approach. The current historical context, between climate change, ongoing wars and food security problems in the world, appears particularly interesting, given that it offers the international scientific community dealing with this species a tool to reflect on the results achieved to date and on the new research perspectives that should be addressed. So, the objective is relevant, well-stated, and fully within the objectives of the journal. The MS is written correctly, the reading is pleasant, the results are presented clearly and the discussion is timely and offers interesting ideas for the scientific community. However, before the manuscript can finally be accepted and published, the author should consider some minor aspects:
- The author classifies scientific production by topics and countries. However, it would also be interesting to know the evolution of research topics for individual countries, at least for the most relevant ones (if any). Highlighting, for example, which priority research topics are in these countries in the last twenty years.
- Documents referring to agronomic journals seem slightly under-represented; this can also be seen from the "cooperative network of key authors" reported in Figure 5, in which the authors appear to be largely geneticists. Is it possible that the keywords used for bibliographic research on the agronomic topic have not captured all the information present in the databases? Could the author provide us with an explanation of this aspect?
Author Response
Thank you for reviewing the manuscript and for the constructive comments and suggestions.
1 - The author classifies scientific production by topics and countries. However, it would also be interesting to know the evolution of research topics for individual countries, at least for the most relevant ones (if any). Highlighting, for example, which priority research topics are in these countries in the last twenty years.
I agree with your suggestion. The term maps for the top six publishing countries have been generated and reported in the supplemental materials, and a new paragraph (3.10. Research Topics in Top Publishing Countries) has been added to the revised manuscript.
2 - Documents referring to agronomic journals seem slightly under-represented; this can also be seen from the "cooperative network of key authors" reported in Figure 5, in which the authors appear to be largely geneticists. Is it possible that the keywords used for bibliographic research on the agronomic topic have not captured all the information present in the databases? Could the author provide us with an explanation of this aspect?
As reported in the paragraph “2.2 Data collection”, bibliographic data were retrieved by using the string TITLE-ABS-KEY (("durum wheat" OR "Triticum durum" OR "Triticum turgidum var. durum" OR "Triticum turgidum subsp. durum" OR "Triticum turgidum ssp. durum")) AND (LIMIT-TO (LANGUAGE, "English")) AND (EXCLUDE (PUBYEAR, 2023)); i.e., by using the search parameters “durum wheat”, and the different scientific name of the species.
The search was only limited to documents written in English, and no limitations about source type, data, or subject, were used. All the 7512 documents were used for the bibliometric analysis.
The “Cooperative network of key authors” (Fig. 5) was generated with the same 7512 documents. Because of the very high number of authors, a software option was used to include the authors with at least 12 papers. One of the likely explanations for the largest presence of geneticists might be because they typically deal with only one or a few agricultural species (publications limited to one species), while other researchers such as agronomists and technologists deal with many crops (publications on several different crops).
Reviewer 2 Report
I have gone through the review paper "Structure and Trends of Worldwide Research on Durum Wheat". Durum wheat is widely cultivated worldwide. It is also one of the main ingredients for making delicious foods such as pasta. The review written by the author on the study of durum wheat is excellent.
Review has been presented very well, authors collected very informative and updated data which is making review very much informative. Figures are very fine and well informative, additionally presentation of table is good.
Nevertheless, the authors should make further efforts to improve the manuscript, working in the following directions:
1. The title of the paper can reflect the research methods used, which can provide readers with richer information through the title.
2. The horizontal axis titles in Figures 1, 2, and 3 need to be added.
3. The article uses a 4-level title, such as 3.2.2.1. This would appear too cumbersome, and the author can modify them to (1), (2)...
Author Response
Thank you for reviewing the manuscript and for the constructive comments and suggestions.
- The title of the paper can reflect the research methods used, which can provide readers with richer information through the title.
I agree. The new title “Structure and Trends of Worldwide Research on Durum Wheat by Bibliographic Mapping” reflects the research method.
- The horizontal axis titles in Figures 1, 2, and 3 need to be added.
- The horizontal axis titles have been added.
- The article uses a 4-level title, such as 3.2.2.1. This would appear too cumbersome, and the author can modify them to (1), (2)...
Generally, a multi-level title structure reflects the different levels of detail and subtopics within a paper, making it easier for readers to navigate the argument and understand the logical flow of information. However, it's important not to overdo it with too many levels.
Therefore the 4-level title has been changed to a 3-level title.
Reviewer 3 Report
Review of the paper titled “Structure and Trends of Worldwide Research on Durum Wheat”.
The manuscript is devoted to an important topic of durum wheat research analysis from 1961 till present. The study methodology is well described, relevant to objectives that it arrives to important results and conclusions. The manuscript represents an important contribution to our knowledge and deserves publishing. It is also very well written, well structured and keeps the reader’s attention throughout the paper. Very few suggestions are there for consideration.
1. Careful reading of the manuscript is justified to avoid phrases like the following: “The bibliometric mapping approaches, known as bibliometric mapping or…”.
2. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that with the time the clusters grow in size and there are less of them as indication of stronger collaboration to attend growing challenges.
3. The climate change is not given special consideration but worth mentioning.
None.
Author Response
Thank you for reviewing the manuscript and for the constructive comments and suggestions.
- Careful reading of the manuscript is justified to avoid phrases like the following: “The bibliometric mapping approaches, known as bibliometric mapping or…”.
OK… The sentences “…….known as bibliometric mapping or science mapping…..” in lines 136-137, and “The bibliometric mapping approach is a useful methodology for acquiring knowledge about the status and evolution of a scientific area and/or discipline” in lines 942-943 have been deleted.
- Perhaps it is worth mentioning that with the time the clusters grow in size and there are less of them as indication of stronger collaboration to attend growing challenges.
Agree. The sentence “(viii) a trend in the multidisciplinary research of durum wheat production and end-product improvement.” in lines 965-966 has been modified to “(viii) over time, the clusters increase in size and complexity due to the growing number of publications and the trend in the multidisciplinary research in addressing the growing challenges of durum wheat production and end-product improvement with the climate changes and consumer demands.”
- The climate change is not given special consideration but worth mentioning.
- The “climate change" has been mentioned in the modified sentence of lines 965-966 (see point 2 above).
- Section “Conclusion and Future perspectives”: The sentence “Integrating genome editing with other molecular breeding strategies can accelerate wheat improvement and pave the way for developing wheat varieties that foster sustainable agriculture and a healthier environment.” has been modified in “Integrating genome editing with other molecular breeding strategies presents a powerful approach to accelerating wheat improvement. This combined approach could pave the way for developing innovative wheat varieties that not only support sustainable agriculture and environmental health but also adapt effectively to the challenges of climate change.”
- The “climate change" has been mentioned in the newly added paragraph, according to the suggestion of reviewer 1, “ 3.10. Research Topics in Top Publishing Countries“: lines 783-785 …”durum wheat research across the world focuses on similar thematic areas, with an emphasis on improving grain yield and quality in the face of changing climatic conditions and increased sustainability demands.”
- The “climate change" has been also mentioned in the Abstract (line 20) and line 723.
