Hidden gems: Highlighting underrepresented but valuable knowledge in the water-energy-food nexus

What can we learn from undercited scholars in the water, energy, food (WEF) nexus literature? Do these works vary from the most commonly cited scholarship? Using a reverse citation systematic review method, the authors find a set of 78 novel yet undercited papers (<5 citations) in the food, water, energy nexus literature from lesser represented perspectives and various geographic origins that enhance current understandings around the nexus. Through text analysis, we compared the abstracts of undercited works to the most highly-cited WEF nexus articles and found that these articles shared similar language and themes. We also found several differences in how some of the most common words were used. Our results also show a higher geographic diversity of authors within the undercited works compared to highly cited. This methodological approach and our research findings have important implications for default search engine structure and scholarly visibility, both of which are important to carefully contemplate as we work to both promote a more inclusive academic enterprise and strive to make advances toward sustainable management of food, water, and energy systems.