How does Brazil study the reservoirs? A bibliometric analysis in the bases Web of Science and Scopus

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze via bibliometrics the studies on reservoirs in Brazil in the databases Web of Science and Scopus, seeking to elucidate four secondary questions: (1) which subjects are most discussed in the articles on the subject; (2) whether the increase in research is related to disasters, and (3) the status of the development of public policy and reservoir work. The results showed that: (1) the most cited studies on reservoirs in Brazil are based primarily on surveys of the planktonic community and on works on Ichthyofauna; on the journals that publish more on the subject, the field of Biological Sciences followed by Zoology and Aquaculture stand out. (2) observing the natural growth tendency of the articles, the records of periods with droughts in different regions of Brazil and the evident disasters, it is inconclusive to affirm that science will produce in greater quantity due to the disasters that reach the reservoirs and (3) when compared to more general issues, there is a lack of water policy issues in the scientific databases, which does not necessarily say that there are few, but many do not identify as part of the policy scope. It is essential that Brazil encourages its researchers to relate the subject more frequently, so that they contribute to decision-making in different spheres.