The Cognition of Geophagy: Mapping Global Research Outputs

Abstract Globally, research on geophagy has been receiving attention, with reports from different animal taxa, including human beings, also highlighting varied components linked with soil consumption instinct. However, a critical systematic study of the extant literature is lacking amidst the growth in research on geophagy, thereby making it difficult to infer the exact trends in this research. Therefore, the present study is conducted to analyse scholarly publications on geophagy from 1930 through 2022. The findings of the study reveal an increasing trend in publications 2010 onwards. WC Mahaney and SL Young are the prolific authors.York University and University of Toronto, are the most productive universities for their publications on geophagy. United States of America and United Kingdom are the most productive countries publishing the highest number of articles on geophagy. It is found that Environmental Geochemistry and Health, Primates, and Biotropica are the prominent journals publishing on geophagy. Thematic analysis of geophagy research reveals that mammalian studies, nutritional aspects, geochemical and geological aspects are major themes of research. Present analysis, thus, is an eye-opener and warrants the conceptualization of integrated research focussing on the suggested aspects of geophagy by fostering collaboration between countries across the globe.