Bibliographic search on agro-hydrological infrastructures: query design strategies and refinement process for a literature review

This dataset contains bibliographic search queries conducted in the Scopus and Web of Science databases for a literature review on agro-hydrological infrastructures. Different query design strategies cover key topics such as soil management, water conservation, runoff control, and green water management. Metadata includes query identifiers, dates, search terms, number of results, and qualitative comments. The dataset supports a broader bibliometric analysis, although some queries tested a regional focus on the Mediterranean. Search terms such as 'water', 'green water', and 'runoff' were combined with 'management', 'conservation,' and 'structures' to identify documents on runoff management structures or water harvesting structures, with a possible focus on rainfed agriculture. Despite the refinement, the results remained broad and still included irrelevant results such as urban runoff studies or soil and water conservation practices. The query results were used to identify highly cited documents to narrow the scope. Their references and citing documents were then used to analyze agricultural contexts. Studies on storage structures or related to irrigation were excluded. A manuscript (in preparation) based on these searches addresses a global review of case studies, key findings, and knowledge gaps on onsite runoff management structures and their maintenance.