The evolution of Middle East migration research: A bibliometric analysis

Authors

  • Isa Kalayci Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Turkey
  • Omer Cem Karacaoglu University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center, Newark, Delaware, USA
  • Ayşen Yeter National Education Directorate, Icel, Turkey

Keywords:

Migration, refugee, disaster, education, Middle East, bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The geography of Southwest Asia, known as the Middle East, is rich in historical, socio-economic and political diversity. This geography is also the scene of many migration events due to factors such as conflicts arising from internal and external causes, internal strife, disasters, struggles for influence, inequality of opportunity, and insecurity created by authoritarian regimes. This study examines the evolution of 2914 academic studies on the Middle East and migration between 1947 and 2024 through bibliometric analysis. During this period, a significant increase in the number of citations has been observed, and this increase has been especially evident since the early 2000s. We also found an increase in the number of articles on the subject, especially since the 2010s. As a result of the review, collaboration between authors, productivity and the influence of specific authors were emphasized. The effectiveness of countries such as the USA, UK and France in scientific research is evaluated, and the importance of countries such as Greece, Kenya and New Zealand is emphasized. In conclusion, this study provides important clues for understanding the evolution of research on the Middle East and migration and for developing strategies for future research.

References

Alnajem, M., Mostafa, M. M., & ElMelegy, A. R. (2021). Mapping the first decade of circular economy research: A bibliometric network analysis. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, 38(1), 29-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681015.2020.1838632

Alviz-Meza, A., Vasquez-Coronado, M. H., Delgado-Caramutti, J. G., & Blanco-Victorio, D. J. (2022). Bibliometric analysis of fourth industrial revolution applied to heritage studies based on web of science and scopus databases from 2016 to 2021. Heritage Science, 10(1), 189. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-022-00821-3

Amanat, A. (2012). Is there a Middle East?: The evolution of a geopolitical concept. Stanford University Press.

Andersson, L. F., Eriksson, R., & Scocco, S. (2019). Refugee immigration and the growth of low-wage work in the EU15. Comparative Migration Studies, 7(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-019-0145-3

Anugerah, A. R., Muttaqin, P. S., & Trinarningsih, W. (2022). Social network analysis in business and management research: A bibliometric analysis of the research trend and performance from 2001 to 2020. Heliyon, 8(4), e09270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09270

Asfour, H. (2020). Internal displacement in the Middle East: A review of the literature. SAS Space. https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/9359/

Balsari, S., Dresser, C., & Leaning, J. (2020). Climate change, migration, and civil strife. Current Environmental Health Reports, 7(4), 404-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-020-00291-4

Barazesh, S. (2021). The Syrian refugee labor supply shock in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon: A literature review of critical impacts on labor markets, economies, and policies. Autonomous University of Barcelona Institutional Repository. http://hdl.handle.net/10230/47256

Blaydes, L., & Paik, C. (2021). Muslim trade and city growth before the nineteenth century: Comparative urbanization in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. British Journal of Political Science, 51(2), 845-868. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123419000267

Christie, N. (2020). Muslims and crusaders: Christianity’s wars in the Middle East, 1095–1382, from the Islamic sources. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351007368

Comarú, M. W., Lopes, R. M., Braga, L. A. M., Batista Mota, F., & Galvão, C. (2021). A bibliometric and descriptive analysis of inclusive education in science education. Studies in Science Education, 57(2), 241-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2021.1897930

Cotterell, A. (2022). Where war began: A military history of the Middle East from the birth of civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans. Rowman & Littlefield.

Crookes, D. M., Stanhope, K. K., & Suglia, S. F. (2022). Immigrant-related policies and the health outcomes of Latinx adults in the United States: A systematic review. Epidemiology, 33(4), 593-605. https://doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0000000000001480

Daoudy, M., Sowers, J., & Weinthal, E. (2022). What is climate security? Framing risks around water, food, and migration in the Middle East and North Africa. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 9(3), e1582. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1582

Della Puppa, F., Montagna, N., & Kofman, E. (2021). Onward migration and intra-European mobilities: A critical and theoretical overview. International Migration, 59(6), 16-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12815

Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070

Dowlah, C. (2020). Global human migration: An overview. Cross-Border Labor Mobility, 17-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36506-6_2

Duplančić Leder, T., Baučić, M., Leder, N., & Gilić, F. (2023). Optical satellite-derived bathymetry: An overview and WOS and SCOPUS bibliometric analysis. Remote Sensing, 15(5), 1294. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15051294

Durac, V., & Cavatorta, F. (2022). Politics and governance in the Middle East. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Erkurt, M. (2021). Women's letters and literary texts about women in ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia (until the end of the second millennium BC) [Master's thesis, Pamukkale University Institute of Social Sciences]. https://hdl.handle.net/11499/38830

Farooq, R. (2023). Knowledge management and performance: A bibliometric analysis based on SCOPUS and WOS data (1988–2021). Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(7), 1948-1991. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2022-0443

Gauffriau, M. (2021). Counting methods introduced into the bibliometric research literature 1970–2018: A review. Quantitative Science Studies, 2(3), 932-975. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00141

Gu, D., Andreev, K., & Dupre, M. E. (2021). Major trends in population growth around the world. China CDC Weekly, 3(28), 604. https://doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2021.160

Gunay, B. (2005). From Europe to Asia: Troubled Turkish regions. Istanbul.

Hannoum, A. (2021). The invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East. Cambridge University Press.

Hashemi, N., Marzban, M., Sebar, B., & Harris, N. (2020). Religious identity and psychological well-being among middle-eastern migrants in Australia: The mediating role of perceived social support, social connectedness, and perceived discrimination. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(4), 475. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/rel0000287

Heilbrunn, S., & Iannone, R. L. (2020). From center to periphery and back again: A systematic literature review of refugee entrepreneurship. Sustainability, 12(18), 7658. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187658

Hoyland, R. G. (2020). Were the Muslim Arab conquerors of the seventh-century Middle East colonialists? Comparativ, 30(3/4). https://doi.org/10.26014/j.comp.2020.03-04.04

Ibrahim, U. A. (2023). Effect of migration and remittance on economic and social development: A review of evidence and emerging issues. Journal of Business Development and Management Research. https://africanscholarpub.com/ajbdmr/article/view/92

Irrera, D. (2020). Humanitarianism and the migration crisis. Ideologies in World Politics, 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-30512-3_3

Jamali, D., Jain, T., Samara, G., & Zoghbi, E. (2020). How institutions affect CSR practices in the Middle East and North Africa: A critical review. Journal of World Business, 55(5), 101127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101127

Jolof, L., Rocca, P., Mazaheri, M., Okenwa Emegwa, L., & Carlsson, T. (2022). Experiences of armed conflicts and forced migration among women from countries in the Middle East, Balkans, and Africa: A systematic review of qualitative studies. Conflict and Health, 16(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-022-00481-x

Kalaycı, İ. (2018). Ortadoğu’dan Türkiye’ye yapılan göçler 1923-2000. Lambert Academic Publishing.

Karacaoğlu, Ö. C., & Güner, B. (2024). Earthquake experience: Emotional, social, and cognitive dimensions. Istanbul University Journal of Sociology, 44, 157-175. https://doi.org/10.26650/SJ.2024.44.1.0023

Karacaoğlu, Ö. C., & Özkaya, A. (2024). Data literacy and disaster: Information access and evaluation skills of earthquake survivors in Turkey. Social International Journal, 8(1), 28-37. https://doi.org/10.15406/sij.2024.08.00373

Karacaoğlu, Ö. C., Özkaya, A., Eryılmaz, C., & Karacaoğlu, D. (2024). Relief and recovery efforts after the 2023 earthquake in Turkey from an educational sciences perspective. Electronic Journal of Educational Sciences, 13(25), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.55605/ejedus.1393847

Karagüzel, A. (2020). Yeni Yüzyılda ABD’nin Ortadoğu politikası: Büyük Ortadoğu projesi. Türkiye Siyaset Bilimi Dergisi, 3(2), 27-46. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1287968

Karakaya, H. (2020). Türkiye’de göç ve etkileri. Fırat Üniversitesi Uluslararası İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 4(2), 93-130. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1279975

Karyakin, V. (2020). Geopolitical regionalistics: The greater Middle East as the "heartland" of the 21st-century world-system. Central Asia & the Caucasus, 21(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.37178/ca-c.20.1.06

Kaygusuz, D. (2021). The phenomenon of migration and securitization of migration in international relations. Journal of Academic Thought, (3)60-76. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1601813

Kelley, C. P., Mohtadi, S., Cane, M. A., Seager, R., & Kushnir, Y. (2015). Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(11), 3241-3246. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421533112

Kennedy, H. (2022). The Prophet and the age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the sixth to the eleventh century. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429348129

Koczan, Z., Peri, G., Pinat, M., & Rozhkov, D. (2021). The impact of international migration on inclusive growth: A review. IMF Working Paper, 2021/088. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4026261

Köksoy, E. (2016). Kamu diplomasisi ve mülteci ilişkileri: Türkiye’nin mülteci ilişkilerinin uluslararası medya yansımaları. Marmara İletişim Dergisi, (24), 77-99. https://doi.org/10.17829/midr.20152419998

Lama, P., Hamza, M., & Wester, M. (2021). Gendered dimensions of migration in relation to climate change. Climate and Development, 13(4), 326-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2020.1772708

Linnenluecke, M. K., Marrone, M., & Singh, A. K. (2020). Conducting systematic literature reviews and bibliometric analyses. Australian Journal of Management, 45(2), 175-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896219877678

Menek, İ. H. (2020). A historical example of multiculturalism: Achaemenid Empire multiculturalism. Gaziantep University Journal of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, 2(1), 118-138. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1124675

Mikac, R., & Wahdyudin, A. Y. (2021, December). The impact of migration on university education. In 2nd International Indonesia Conference on Interdisciplinary Studies (IICIS 2021) (pp. 14-24). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211206.003

Moral-Muñoz, J. A., Herrera-Viedma, E., Santisteban-Espejo, A., & Cobo, M. J. (2020). Software tools for conducting bibliometric analysis in science: An up-to-date review. Profesional de la Información/Information Professional, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.ene.03

Morton, N. (2020). The Crusades to the eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291. In Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 15 Thematic Essays (600-1600) (pp. 281-306). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004423701_013

Peptan, C. (2020). Considerations regarding the security equation determined by the problematics of refugees in the Middle East. Research and Science Today, 19(1), 9-19. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=844427

Powell, A., Shennan, S., & Thomas, M. G. (2009). Late Pleistocene demography and the appearance of modern human behavior. Science, 324(5932), 1298-1301. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1170165

Pranckutė, R. (2021). Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The titans of bibliographic information in today’s academic world. Publications, 9(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/publications9010012

Putri, F. N., Rizal, S., & Yumitro, G. (2023). Middle East refugee crisis in Europe and Turkey: A systematic literature review. Journal of Islamic World and Politics, 7(1), 11-24. https://doi.org/10.18196/jiwp.v7i1.10

Romanini, E., Schettini, I., Torre, M., Venosa, M., Tarantino, A., Calvisi, V., & Zanoli, G. (2021). The rise of registry-based research: A bibliometric analysis. Acta Orthopaedica, 92(5), 628-632. https://doi.org/10.1080/17453674.2021.1937459

Saha, V., Mani, V., & Goyal, P. (2020). Emerging trends in the literature of value co-creation: A bibliometric analysis. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 27(3), 981-1002. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-07-2019-0342

Salameh, M. T. B., Alraggad, M., & Harahsheh, S. T. (2021). The water crisis and the conflict in the Middle East. Sustainable Water Resources Management, 7, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-021-00549-1

Salameh, R., & Chedid, R. (2020). Economic and geopolitical implications of natural gas export from the East Mediterranean: The case of Lebanon. Energy Policy, 140, 111369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111369

Salehyan, I., & Savun, B. (2024). Strategic humanitarianism: Host states and refugee policy. Annual Review of Political Science, 27. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041322-023519

Stewart, D. J. (2012). The Middle East today: Political, geographical and cultural perspectives. Routledge.

Talmon-Heller, D. (2022). Islamic pilgrimage in the Middle East: An overview. In Pilgrimage through the ages in religious and non-religious context (pp. 48-65). CISMOR. https://www.cismor.jp/uploads-images/sites/2/2023/02/07Talmon.pdf

Townsend, B. (2020). From SRI to ESG: The origins of socially responsible and sustainable investing. The Journal of Impact and ESG Investing, 1(1), 10-25. https://doi.org/10.3905/jesg.2020.1.1.010

Triulzi, U. (2021). An overview of the changed EU-MENA economic landscape: From cooperation to migration. In States, actors and geopolitical drivers in the Mediterranean (pp. 69-105). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69000-7_3

Tsegay, S. M. (2023). International migration: Definition, causes and effects. Genealogy, 7(3), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7030061

Tsetseri, M. N., Keene, D. J., Silman, A. J., & Dakin, S. G. (2024). Exploring the burden, prevalence and associated factors of chronic musculoskeletal pain in migrants from North Africa and Middle East living in Europe: A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 769. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17542-2

Wilson, R. (2021). Economic development in the Middle East. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003053149

Yerasimos, S. (1994). Nationalities and borders: The Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Istanbul.

Yıldırım, S. G. (2023). Çokkültürcülük ve göç. Meriç Uluslararası Sosyal ve Stratejik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 7(19), 145-165. https://doi.org/10.54707/meric.1263747

Yoldas, N. (2022). Doğu Akdeniz'de enerji güvenliğinin güncel dinamikleri [Master's thesis, İstanbul Gelişim Üniversitesi Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü]. https://hdl.handle.net/11363/3773

Yüksel, M. (2021). A review on the entanglement of forced migration and resettlement in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire. Turkish Studies-Historical Analysis, 16(3), 819-842. https://doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.51931

Zaccara, L., & Gonçalves, M. D. C. D. S. (2021). Migrants, refugees, and displaced persons in the Middle East and North Africa: An approach from the Global South. REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana, 29(63), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-85852503880006302

Zuntz, A. C. (2021). Refugees’ transnational livelihoods and remittances: Syrian mobilities in the Middle East before and after 2011. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(2), 1400-1422. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feab016

Published

2025-06-15

How to Cite

Kalayci, I., Karacaoglu, O. C., & Yeter, A. (2025). The evolution of Middle East migration research: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(6), 120–172. Retrieved from http://www.ijeponline.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1037

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 6 (2025)

Section

Peer Review Articles
Copyright & Licensing

Copyright (c) 2025 Isa Kalayci, Omer Cem Karacaoglu, Ayşen Yeter

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Allows users to: distribute and copy the article; create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation); include in a collective work (such as an anthology); and text or data mine the article. These uses are permitted even for commercial purposes, provided the user: gives appropriate credit to the author(s) (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant URL ID); includes a link to the license; indicates if changes were made; and does not represent the author(s) as endorsing the adaptation of the article or modify the article in such a way as to damage the authors' honor or reputation. CC BY