Data from: Detecting seminal research contributions to the development of ethnobotany by reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS)

This study aims to assess the growth in overall publication output in
ethnobotany as well as provide a systematic examination of the history of
ethnobotanical publications using reference publication year spectroscopy
(RPYS). The study is based on 5201 papers published between 1974 and 2019
covering 290006 non-distinct cited references (CRs), indexed in Science
Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-Expanded) of Web of Science (WoS). The
regression analysis indicated a compound annual growth rate of
approximately 11% globally in ethnobotanical publications and the volume
of publications doubles every approximately 6 years. The reference
publication period was divided into four sub-periods in which a total of
31 peaks are clearly identifiable, including five peaks from the first
period (earliest to 1800), ten from the second (1801–1900), nine from the
third (1901–1950) and seven from the last period (1951–2000). A total of
44 publications were found to have been especially influential and
landmark. Out of them, 31 (70%) were books and 11 (25%) were
articles.  Out of the 11 articles, 5 (45%) were published in the
same journal (Economic Botany). The first period had the lowest number of
publications (5), including classic books like the Spanish translation of
Dioscorides’ Materia Medica and Carolus Linnaeus’ Systema naturæ.
Interestingly, about 30% of the studies that laid the foundation of
ethnobotany and are discussed in this paper come from South Africa,
pointing to the contribution of the African Continent to the foundation of
the field of ethnobotany.