MIGRATION AND MIGRATION PROCESSES IN CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE: BIBLIOMETRIC AND CLUSTER ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical and bibliometric examination of the categories “migration” and “migration processes” in contemporary scientific discourse. The relevance of the study stems from the growing migration mobility under conditions of global transformations and the full-scale war against Ukraine, which has intensified forced displacement, loss of human capital, and regional disparities. The aim of the article is to substantiate the content of the categories “migration” and “migration processes,” as well as to identify the thematic structure, geographical concentration, and temporal dynamics of research in this field.

The methodological framework includes conceptual analysis, bibliometric analysis of publication activity in the Scopus database, and network mapping of keywords using VOSviewer. The results demonstrate that the category “migration” primarily represents the fact of population movement, whereas “migration processes” reflect a broader system of interconnected phenomena, including determinants, dynamics, structure, and consequences of population mobility.

A steady increase in the number of publications over the period 2015–2025 has been identified for both search queries (“migration” and “migration processes”), along with the dominance of social sciences in their disciplinary structure and the geographical concentration of research in leading scientific centers (the United States and the United Kingdom). The key thematic clusters encompass demographic, economic, social, cultural, medical, legal, and crisis-related aspects of migration.

The study concludes that a clear distinction between the analyzed concepts as different levels of scientific abstraction is necessary, which is essential for further research and for the development of effective migration policy.

Future research should expand the empirical base, deepen content analysis, and model the impact of migration processes on socio-economic development and human capital reproduction.