Knowledge Mapping of Crisis and Risk Management Scientific Products at Scopus During 1973 and 2020

Human thought in the field of crisis management is focused on preventing, preparing for, and dealing with crises in various areas such as organizational crises and natural disasters. However, accessing information on crisis management and related areas can be challenging due to the interdisciplinary nature of the concept of crisis, and there are differing opinions on this matter. One of the most critical and essential tasks of crisis management is to take measures, within the framework of urban management, to eliminate the problems caused by natural disasters, reduce their adverse effects, and prepare for relief and the improvement of the situation. Considering the significance of crisis management worldwide and the need to mitigate its impact, it is crucial to regularly analyze and advance crisis research. This will ensure that research in this field progresses with accuracy and relevance. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify research topics in the field of crisis and risk management using the Scopus database from 1973 to 2020.

The present research is a scientometric study that utilizes content analysis techniques, specifically co-word analysis and network analysis. The research community encompasses all documents in the field of crisis and risk management from the inception to 2020 in the Scopus database. In this research, the documentary method was used to collect data. First, the relevant keywords were identified, and the search was conducted using Boolean operators and truncation techniques. Finally, on November 7, 2021, 2,330 documents were retrieved and entered into Excel software. Using Bibexcel software, the names of organizations, countries, and keywords were extracted and analyzed. Centrality indices, such as closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and degree centrality, were analyzed using Gephi software. Additionally, a vocabulary co-occurrence network was created using VOSviewer software.

According to the increasing trend of scientific publications in the field of crisis and risk management, there has been a rise in the production of works. The highest number of publications was recorded in the year 2020, with 222 documents. Most of the documents in terms of the type of work are research articles, and the majority of the published documents are in English. The United States, with 467 documents, Runciman, W.B. The author with 15 documents and the social science field with 694 documents were the most active in terms of country, author, and field. The topics of crisis management and risk can be categorized into five clusters of issues. The first cluster focuses on risk management and disasters caused by crises. The second cluster addresses crises, vulnerability, and disaster management during crisis situations. The third cluster examines the assessment of potential risks. The fourth cluster explores risk factors and interventions in crisis occurrence, as well as training individuals to prevent such accidents. The fifth cluster discusses post-accident management, healthcare, and providing relief to victims. The vocabulary co-occurrence network also shows that the keywords "crisis management," "risk management," and "risk assessment" have a degree centrality of 196, 194, and 192, respectively. The keywords "risk management," "vulnerability," and "water management" have an equal value of 1 and the highest value of closeness centrality. The keywords "human," "risk management," and "risk assessment" have the highest value of betweenness centrality, with values of 8.653, 491, and 3.398, respectively. These three nodes have the shortest path connecting them to other pairs of nodes, indicating that they have more influence and occupy a vital position in the network.

  The key to crisis management lies in proper planning and the implementation of continuous structured processes that are designed before a crisis occurs in order to fully equip and prepare. Crisis management is a process that involves evaluating crisis signals and taking necessary measures before, during, and after the crisis to effectively overcome it and minimize the resulting damage. Conducting research in this field is one of the practical methods that can assist countries in crisis control and management. The results of previous research in the field of crisis management and natural hazards indicate that the majority of studies focus on crisis management, risk management, and human health. This highlights the significance of global research on human health during accidents. However, despite this, Iran, known as one of the accident-prone countries, has a low level of scientific output and limited international collaboration in this area. Policymakers and crisis management planners in countries can take a significant step towards identifying the principles of crisis prevention and mitigating the resulting damages by prioritizing the crisis issue and conducting further research on the identified hot issues in the present study.