Mapping Human–Animal Interaction Studies: A Bibliometric Analysis

The presence of nonhuman animals in our shared world affects most areas of human activity, both physically and conceptually. The study of human–animal interactions is thus considered a field of great interest, but also of great complexity. In recent decades, it has become manifest in multiple disciplines through many works, intersectionalities, approaches, and methodologies. Our main aim was to provide a useful reference for researchers and other professionals specialized in human–animal interaction studies (HAIS). For researchers from other areas of knowledge, we also aimed to serve as an approximation to the internal coherence and structure of HAIS, contributing to the incorporation of nonhuman animals into their research and advancing their moral consideration through the concept of agency. This paper presents an updated description of the multidisciplinary field of HAIS through a bibliometric study based on the co-occurrence of author keywords, topics, and trends. In this analysis, we found similarities in 60% of the terms used in human–animal studies (HAS) and critical animal studies (CAS), although numerous different terms also emerged. This degree of term co-occurrence was not found with anthrozoology (AZ), which shared only one line of research, related to companion animals, with HAS and which accounted for 13% of the terms used. It had only one common node with CAS.