Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research

A growing and massive digitalisation of society marks the visits of natural areas. This leads to the production and sharing of digital footprints which, as soon as they contain data allowing them to be spatialised, become Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). By making it possible to understand...

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Main Authors: Robin Lesné, Marc Langenbach, Pascal Mao, Hugues François, Nicolas Robinet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2024-02-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/12550
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author Robin Lesné
Marc Langenbach
Pascal Mao
Hugues François
Nicolas Robinet
author_facet Robin Lesné
Marc Langenbach
Pascal Mao
Hugues François
Nicolas Robinet
author_sort Robin Lesné
collection DOAJ
description A growing and massive digitalisation of society marks the visits of natural areas. This leads to the production and sharing of digital footprints which, as soon as they contain data allowing them to be spatialised, become Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). By making it possible to understand phenomena that are difficult to observe, their use opens new research perspectives, even more for mountain areas marked by the need to understand these visits and by the lack of efficiency of other systems. Documenting the phenomenon of VGI within scientific production can therefore help to lay the foundations for future research. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the academic literature on VGI. We conduct a bibliometric analysis based on a scoping study of the 1,001 papers listed on the Web of Science dealing with VGI. Firstly, we identify the evolution of their production since 2009 and their particularly important attachment to geography and formal sciences. Secondly, we highlight trends in their production context, including the influence of Geographic Information Sciences in the authorship and dissemination spaces of the work, and the dominance of a few countries in the production of this literature. Thirdly, we identify themes that are prevalent in the corpus through an analysis of keywords, and the lacunar nature of the issue of recreational use of natural areas. Thus, our paper highlights the maturity of the field of studies of VGI, but also the opportunity that is emerging in terms of mobilising this tool in scientific work dealing with the visits and management of natural areas.
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spelling doaj-art-bb7d8513e4f74f35b4ddde0eebc411b32025-01-10T15:53:58ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262024-02-01111310.4000/rga.12550Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information ResearchRobin LesnéMarc LangenbachPascal MaoHugues FrançoisNicolas RobinetA growing and massive digitalisation of society marks the visits of natural areas. This leads to the production and sharing of digital footprints which, as soon as they contain data allowing them to be spatialised, become Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). By making it possible to understand phenomena that are difficult to observe, their use opens new research perspectives, even more for mountain areas marked by the need to understand these visits and by the lack of efficiency of other systems. Documenting the phenomenon of VGI within scientific production can therefore help to lay the foundations for future research. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the academic literature on VGI. We conduct a bibliometric analysis based on a scoping study of the 1,001 papers listed on the Web of Science dealing with VGI. Firstly, we identify the evolution of their production since 2009 and their particularly important attachment to geography and formal sciences. Secondly, we highlight trends in their production context, including the influence of Geographic Information Sciences in the authorship and dissemination spaces of the work, and the dominance of a few countries in the production of this literature. Thirdly, we identify themes that are prevalent in the corpus through an analysis of keywords, and the lacunar nature of the issue of recreational use of natural areas. Thus, our paper highlights the maturity of the field of studies of VGI, but also the opportunity that is emerging in terms of mobilising this tool in scientific work dealing with the visits and management of natural areas.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/12550volunteered geographic informationvisits of natural areasscoping studybibliometric analysis
spellingShingle Robin Lesné
Marc Langenbach
Pascal Mao
Hugues François
Nicolas Robinet
Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research
Revue de Géographie Alpine
volunteered geographic information
visits of natural areas
scoping study
bibliometric analysis
title Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research
title_full Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research
title_fullStr Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research
title_full_unstemmed Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research
title_short Bibliometric Analysis to Understand the Place of the Visits of Natural Areas in the Field of Volunteered Geographic Information Research
title_sort bibliometric analysis to understand the place of the visits of natural areas in the field of volunteered geographic information research
topic volunteered geographic information
visits of natural areas
scoping study
bibliometric analysis
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/12550
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AT pascalmao bibliometricanalysistounderstandtheplaceofthevisitsofnaturalareasinthefieldofvolunteeredgeographicinformationresearch
AT huguesfrancois bibliometricanalysistounderstandtheplaceofthevisitsofnaturalareasinthefieldofvolunteeredgeographicinformationresearch
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