Bibliometric Analysis on Geographical Indication and the Law: A Decade of Publications

Abstract

This study examines the scholarly landscape on geographical indication and the law through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis aimed at identifying conceptual trends, research patterns and global collaboration structures within the field. Despite the growing importance of geographical indication as a legal mechanism for protecting origin-based products, enhancing rural development and shaping international trade negotiations, existing scholarship remains dispersed across multiple disciplines, creating a need for a systematic assessment of its intellectual structure. To address this gap, the study employed a structured methodology beginning with data collection through Scopus advanced searching, which yielded a final dataset of 838 peer-reviewed English-language documents published between 2015 and 2025. Statistical trends and performance indicators such as publication growth, authorship patterns, country contributions and citation metrics were analysed using the Scopus Analyzer. OpenRefine was then used to clean and harmonise author names, affiliations and keywords to ensure data accuracy and consistency. The refined dataset was subsequently processed in VOSviewer to generate visualisations of co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence maps and citation structures, enabling the identification of dominant themes, emerging clusters and influential actors. The numerical results reveal rapid publication growth after 2018, strong contributions from European and Asian countries, and high thematic concentration around intellectual property law, sustainability, protected geographical indication, traditional knowledge and international trade. The visual analyses also highlight dense collaborative linkages among countries with established geographical indication systems, alongside increasing participation from developing regions. The study concludes that research on geographical indication and the law has expanded into a multidimensional field shaped by legal, economic and socio-cultural considerations, underscoring the need for continued interdisciplinary engagement to support policy development and global regulatory coherence.