Publication Trends in Thermal Weed Control: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Weeds cause significant yield and quality losses in agricultural production, while negatively impacting ecosystem balance in urban areas and increasing maintenance and management costs. Although traditional chemical methods are effective in the short term, they have negative effects on the environment, biodiversity, and human health. Therefore, chemical-free and environmentally friendly alternatives have gained importance, and thermal methods, in particular, have become the focus of research. This study examines the trends in scientific publications in the field of thermal weed control from a bibliometric perspective. 498 scientific documents were analyzed using data from the Web of Science database covering the period 1981–2025. The findings show a significant increase in the number of publications since the 2010s. Citation analyses revealed that researchers such as Fontanelli M., Peruzzi A., Frasconni C., and Raffaelli M. stand out with high publication and citation numbers. Keyword analyses indicate that the primary focus of the studies is “thermal weed control”, “weed management”, “non-chemical weed control”, “flaming”, “temperature”, and “thermal time”; research initially focused on agricultural production but expanded to non-agricultural areas over time. Publications primarily appeared in journals such as Weed Research and Weed Science, and subsequently in journals focusing on agriculture, biology, and engineering. Consequently, thermal weed control stands out as a key area in holistic weed management for the future, requiring interdisciplinary collaboration as a strategy that supports environmental sustainability and protects ecosystem health.