<b>Data obtained from Web of Science</b>: <b>A bibliometric analysis of the literature on goat breeding</b>

<b>Background:</b> Bibliometric analysis has an essential role in scientific studies nowadays. Some research areas still have many gaps. This is also the case in animal science. Therefore, the status of current studies can be analysed and provide guidance for future research through the scientific studies that will be conducted. The aim of the present study was to perform a bibliometric analysis on goat breeding to evaluate the current trends, gaps of knowledge and the future perspectives. <b>Methods: </b>The large dataset was extracted from Web of Science (WOS) that is known as popular database for scientific studies. According to the WoS, we used approximately 1000 scientific papers (1991 to 2023) which contains articles, book chapters, data papers, proceedings paper, meeting abstracts, and notes. All bibliometric analyses were performed using bibliometrix package in the R statistical software. <b>Results and Conclusions: </b>In 2023, there were 34 studies available. Average citations per years showed that the highest average citation count was represented by year of 2006 (31.35). Totally, 265 scientific journals in the WoS database published goat breeding studies. Small Ruminant Research leads to the rest of with 145 articles. In conclusion, the scientific studies in the goat breeding area seem to be popular in recent years. Authors may gravitate towards popular journals in the future.<b>背景：</b> 如今，文献计量分析（Bibliometric analysis）在科学研究中占据着至关重要的地位。当前诸多研究领域仍存在大量未被填补的空白，动物科学领域亦不例外。通过开展针对性的科学研究，可系统梳理现有研究现状，为后续研究提供科学指引。本研究旨在针对山羊育种领域开展文献计量分析，以评估当前研究趋势、现存知识空白及未来研究方向。<b>方法：</b> 本研究的大型数据集取自科研领域广泛使用的Web of Science（WOS）数据库。本次研究共纳入1991年至2023年间的约1000篇科学文献，涵盖期刊论文、图书章节、数据论文、会议论文、会议摘要及研究简报等类型。所有文献计量分析均通过R统计软件的bibliometrix包完成。<b>结果与结论：</b> 2023年已公开的相关研究文献共计34篇。年篇均被引频次分析显示，2006年的篇均被引次数最高，达31.35次。WOS数据库中共有265种学术期刊刊载过山羊育种相关研究，其中《Small Ruminant Research》以145篇文献位居榜首。综上，山羊育种领域的科学研究近年来热度持续攀升，未来研究者或可倾向于选择主流期刊发表相关成果。