Review Reports - Evolution of the Global Scientific Research on the Environmental Impact of Food Production from 1970 to 2020

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This research focuses on the evolution of global scientific research on the impact of food production using bibliometric analysis. Despite the interesting nature of the research, it is sometimes difficult to follow in terms of organization.

The methods (bibliometric analysis procedure) could be presented in a schematic format to follow easily
Trends in data could be thoroughly be discussed rather than only stating the results and defining terms.
It is hard to relate the research objective to the conclusion and the significance of the research.

The research has several data which could be put in a more concise format.

Author Response

I thank the referee for his/her comments on this paper

the revisions were pointed out in red

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Abstract: it is recommended to highlight what are the most important contributions that emerge from the literature.
Abstract: please explain where food is in these topics (Climate change, energy consumption, and environmental impact)
Introduction:
- It is highly recommended to consistently revise the Introduction, so that it really provides an overview of the topics addressed in the paper. This section should also address the relevant literature: is there any study that addresses similar topics?
- first paragraph: it is recommended to use more updated reference, as well as to link these environmental problems to food, the main focus of the article
- Check this data: From 22 to 37% of global anthropogenic emissions (Rogissart et al. 2019) are attributed to overall food consumption. It is not related to consumption but to the whole food system.
- From the sentence (Bibliometric analysis is usually applied at three levels, the so-called macro level refer- ring to national systems, the meso level to institutions, including individual Universities, and finally the micro one to research groups or individual researchers (De Robbio, 2007).) the information provided would be better suited for a methodological section
- all reference should be updated

It is not clear the purpose of this paragraph:

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) dates to the 1960s, when the energy analyses of indus- trial systems started to be carried out to account for the oil crises of the early 1970s. The rise of environmental awareness in the late 1980s had the effect of increasing the attention on LCA as a potentially valuable environmental management tool. The International Standards Organization (ISO) released four ISO LCA standards (ISO 14040 to 14043) from 1997 to 2000. After that, the LCA became a decision-support tool for several food compa- nies. The Coca Cola Co. had started to account for the environmental impact of its pack- aging since 1969. Then, other companies (e.g., Tetrapak, Nestlé, Unilever, Arla Foods) and many beer companies engaged in assessing and improving their environmental sustaina- bility (BIER, 2012; Notarnicola et al., 2012).

Results:

Please provide the Figures
This section lacks a thorough qualitative explanation of the results --> what does this literature address / contribute to?

Discussion of results:

It is not clear why you speak here about food consumption
- The first and most evident conclusion of this study pointed out that the production of the scientific community in terms of number of publi- cations is still relatively small despite the social and scientific relevance of the environ- mental impact of food production and consumption in terms especially of food security, air and soil quality, diet and health.

Author Response

I thank the referee for his/her comments on this paper.

the revisions were pointed out in blue.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript entitled "Evolution of the global scientific research on the environmental impact of food production from 1970 to 2020" in my opinion is an original work, well written, well systematized and a valuable tool for future research support concerning the environmental impact of food production. I have attached the manuscript with some suggested corrections, namely to the presented references and web links.