This document summarizes research on geographical information systems (GIS) based on an analysis of documents in the Scopus database. It finds over 36,000 documents on GIS between 1969-2018, with the most publications in 2016. The top publishing journals are the International Journal of Geographical Information Science and Environmental Earth Sciences. The most cited studies use GIS for climate modeling, spatial analysis, and remote sensing applications. Examples of recent research apply GIS to disaster assessment, forestry, ethnicity mapping, and analyzing organized hate groups.

1. Academic research on
Geographical Information System
(GIS)
Research trend analysis using
Scopus database
February 2019
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2. Search parameters
• Scopus is “Elsevier’s abstract and citation
database launched in 2004.”
• Search term: GIS (in title, abstract, or
keywords). QGIS and geocod* were also used.
• Material type: articles (conference papers and
other types are excluded)
• Further limited by keyword “GIS”
• Language: limited to English
• Search was conducted on February 5, 2019
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3. The search returned 36,857 documents.
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1969-2018 shown in line graph below.
2,480
documents
in 2016,

4. The documents per year by source
Text box
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5. 5
Rank Journal documents
1 International Journal Of Geographical Information Science 910
2 Environmental Earth Sciences 545
3 Transactions In GIS 544
4 Computers And Geosciences 480
5 Environmental Monitoring And Assessment 416
6 Applied Geography 415
7 Computers Environment And Urban Systems 409
8 Natural Hazards 404
9 Landscape And Urban Planning 359
10 GEO Connexion 349
11 Arabian Journal Of Geosciences 328
12 Geomorphology 302
13 International Journal Of Remote Sensing 291
14 Science Of The Total Environment 279
15 Journal Of Environmental Management 263
16 Environmental Modelling And Software 239
17 GIS World 228
18 GIM International 226
19 Sustainability Switzerland 226
20 Environmental Management 217
The top 20 journals publishing GIS research

6. Documents by affiliation
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University of Tokyo
(Ranked No.35),
Kyushu U (No.130),
Kyoto U (No.154)

7. Top fields are 1) Environmental science, 2) Earth and planetary sciences, 3)
Social sciences, 4) Agricultural and biological sciences
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8. Top 20 countries conducting GIS research
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9. Five most frequently cited GIS studies
1. Hijmans, R. J., Cameron, S. E., Parra, J. L., Jones, P. G., & Jarvis, A. (2005).
Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas.
International Journal of Climatology, 25(15), 1965-1978. Cited 9,980 times
2. Anselin, L. (1995). Local indicators of spatial Association—LISA.
Geographical Analysis, 27(2), 93-115. Cited 3,731 times
3. Benz, U. C., Hofmann, P., Willhauck, G., Lingenfelder, I., & Heynen, M.
(2004). Multi-resolution, object-oriented fuzzy analysis of remote sensing
data for GIS-ready information. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing, 58(3-4), 239-258. Cited 1,669 times
4. Calenge, C. (2006). The package "adehabitat" for the R software: A tool for
the analysis of space and habitat use by animals. Ecological Modelling,
197(3-4), 516-519. Cited 1,383 times
5. McBratney, A. B., Mendonça Santos, M. L., & Minasny, B. (2003). On digital
soil mapping. Geoderma, 117(1-2), 3-52. Cited 1,239 times
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10. Examples of the latest QGIS research
• Darshan, S., & Sumedh, M. (2019). Natural disaster analysis and
mapping using remote sensing and QGIS tools for F-north ward,
mumbai city, india. Disaster Advances, 12(1), 40-50.
• Guzmán, C., Calderón, A., Martinez, C., Oviedo, M., & Mattar, S.
(2019). Eco-epidemiology of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus
in bats of Córdoba and Sucre, Colombia. Acta Tropica, 191, 178-184.
• Meyer, D., & Riechert, M. (2019). Open source QGIS toolkit for the
advanced research WRF modelling system. Environmental Modelling
and Software, 112, 166-178.
• Obodai, J., Adjei, K. A., Odai, S. N., & Lumor, M. (2019). Land
use/land cover dynamics using Landsat data in a gold mining basin-
the Ankobra, Ghana. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and
Environment, 13, 247-256.
• Park, S., Nielsen, A., Bailey, R. T., Trolle, D., & Bieger, K. (2019). A
QGIS-based graphical user interface for application and evaluation of
SWAT-MODFLOW models. Environmental Modelling and Software,
111, 493-497.
10
QGIS: 199
documents

11. GIS + Geocod* produces 416 results
Latest examples
• Daly, M. R., Mellor, J. M., & Millones, M. (2019). Defining primary care
shortage areas: Do GIS-based measures yield different results?
Journal of Rural Health, 35(1), 22-34. doi:10.1111/jrh.12294
• Seifi, M., Niazi, S., Johnson, G., Nodehi, V., & Yunesian, M. (2019).
Exposure to ambient air pollution and risk of childhood cancers: A
population-based study in Tehran, Iran. Science of the Total
Environment, 646, 105-110. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.219
• Prato, C. G., Kaplan, S., Patrier, A., & Rasmussen, T. K. (2019).
Integrating police reports with geographic information system
resources for uncovering patterns of pedestrian crashes in Denmark.
Journal of Transport Geography, 74, 10–23.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.10.018 NEXT SLIDE
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12. Prato, C. G., Kaplan, S., Patrier, A., & Rasmussen, T. K. (2019). Integrating police reports
with geographic information system resources for uncovering patterns of pedestrian
crashes in Denmark. Journal of Transport Geography, 74, 10–23. 12

13. Yang, Y., Mao, L., & Metcalf, S. S. (2019). Diffusion of
hurricane evacuation behavior through a home-workplace
social network: A spatially explicit agent-based simulation
model. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 74,
13–22.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.201
8.11.010
Examples of latest research on GIS
1. Climate, disaster
2. Forestry
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Richit, L. A., Bonatto, C., da Silva, R. V, & Grzybowski, J. M.
V. (2019). Prognostics of forest recovery with r.recovery
GRASS-GIS module: an open-source forest growth simulation
model based on the diffusive-logistic equation. Environmental
Modelling & Software, 111, 108–120.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.10.002

14. Müller-Crepon, C., & Hunziker, P. (2018). New spatial data
on ethnicity: Introducing SIDE. Journal of Peace Research,
55(5), 687–698.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343318764254
Examples of latest research on GIS
3. Ethnicity, geography
4. Sociology, politics
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Medina, R. M., Nicolosi, E., Brewer, S., & Linke, A. M.
(2018). Geographies of organized hate in America: A
regional analysis. Annals of the American Association of
Geographers, 108(4), 1006–1021.
https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2017.1411247