Evolution and Global Landscape of Evidence Synthesis in Agricultural Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have become essential infrastructure for translating agricultural research into actionable knowledge; yet the field’s developmental trajectory and intellectual structure remain poorly characterized. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of 1709 evidence synthesis publications in agricultural sciences from 1997 to 2023, examining growth dynamics, collaboration, thematic evolution, and geographic specialization. The results show exponential growth of 29% annually, with a 2018 inflection point marking the transition from emerging methodology to mainstream practice. Meta-analyses, comprising 75% of publications and accelerating earlier (2017) than systematic reviews (2019), have primarily driven this expansion as an accessible quantitative approach. Evidence synthesis is highly collaborative, with 59% multi-country authorship sustained across 97 countries and regions. Topic modeling identified 14 core themes spanning soil carbon, climate change, crop management, technology adoption, and sustainable agriculture, with thematic shifts from production-focused topics toward climate and sustainability priorities aligned with post-2015 policy agendas. Strategic diagram analysis revealed a linear structure linking topic maturity and centrality, indicating exceptional integration distinct from the fragmentation typical of other domains. Revealed comparative advantage (RCA) analysis showed geographic specialization aligned with national agricultural contexts, though the concentration of synthesis capacity raises equity concerns about whose systems and questions are represented. Overall, agricultural evidence synthesis has matured into a globally connected, policy-responsive knowledge network; yet sustaining growth will require institutional support, methodological rigor, and pathways that translate synthesis into practice impact.