Perspectives of Malaysian Stingless Bees Based on Bibliometric Analysis: A Review

ASM Sc. J., 20(2), 2025

Published on October 30, 2025

https://doi.org/10.32802/asmscj.2025.1792

Author: Mohd Khalizan Sabullah, Dg. Nooralizan Abd-Wahid, Jualang Azlan Gansau, Roslina Jawan, Lucky Goh Poh Wah, Syed Umar Faruq Syed Najmuddin, Hasmadi Mamat, Amir Syahir Amir Hamzah and Mohd Yunus Shukor

Abstract

Stingless bees or kelulut are considered the best pollinators for various types of fruits and vegetables. Moreover, their honey boasts tremendous nutritional and therapeutic properties, offering traditional and contemporary avenues for treating a mess of illnesses . In this regard, several institutions in Malaysia are actively researching kelulut to identify the potential to increase visibility and acceptance in the global market . This purposeful study was conducted to analyse the publication pattern of 292 papers related to kelulut research in the Scopus database for a period of ten years (2013-2022). The findings showed an increase in terms of the number of annual publications, namely 59 papers with cumulative citations of 1177. An analysis of the performance of institutions in Malaysia identified UPM as having the highest number of publications (62 papers) compared to other institutions. In terms of the number of sponsorships, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia is the highest contributor with 53 papers. The United States of America is the highest foreign sponsor with a total publication of 12 papers. Analysis based on kelulut bee species, Heterotrigona itama is a well-known species based on the highest co-occurrence in VoSViewer analysis (38 co-occurrences). It is hoped that this study can provide a true picture of the publication of papers in Scopus related to kelulut research in Malaysia and can build awareness among researchers and authors to increase the publication of introducing terms of its application and Malaysian kelulut-based products on the international stage.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, co-occurrence, Malaysia apiculture, stingless bee research, VOSviewer