Visualizing the scientific panorama of coral black band disease research: a bibliometric analysis

Black band disease (BBD) is a relevant coral disease with wide global distribution. A remarkable number of studies exist regarding the etiological, microbiological, and ecological characteristics and extent of this widely studied disease. This bibliometric study comprehends the global literature published on BBD and aims to assess the research activities and trends on BBD using the Bibliometrix R-package. Authors, countries, institutions, core journals, thematic maps, and historic direct citation networks are analyzed. Assessment of author productivity summarizes that the majority of the scientific literature emanated from a smaller group of researchers, with 70% of authors contributing only single articles. The prominent collaboration in global BBD research is a trio between the USA, UK, and Australia. This indicates that research requires more focus and fostering in many developing countries, and this needs further active research collaborations with the developing countries. Co-occurrence networks and Co-citation networks outlined the most strongly related words, authors, papers, and sources. Thematic map reveals BBD research revolves around the basic themes such as “disease prevalence”, but currently, interest has been shifted towards specialized themes like “microbial community”. The focus of the majority of the researchers was on the abundance, prevalence, and spatio-temporal dynamics of BBD. Molecular and genetic level studies of the microbial communities that involve metagenomics approaches are ongoing and active. The specialized or niche themes such as microbial consortium, the shift in the microbiome, and the presence of quorum sensing inhibitors in this consortium are acquiring much interest. Analysis of BBD publications indicates that treatment methods, resistance, and coral immunity against BBD were some of the under-looked areas in the research. This bibliometric report provides a nutshell of the status of global BBD research that can act as a reference for and guidance to the coral scientists, research funders, and policymakers to tackle BBD