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Analysis of institutional authors

Bagaria, MAuthorFàbrega-Romans, EmmaAuthor

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July 29, 2024
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Animal discomfort: A concept analysis using the domesticated pig ( Sus scrofa ) as a model

Publicated to: Livestock Science. 286 105524- - 2024-08-01 286(), DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2024.105524

Authors: Franchi, GA; Bagaria, M; Boswijk, H; Fàbrega, E; Herskin, MS; Westin, R

Affiliations

Aarhus Univ, Dept Anim & Vet Sci, Blichers Alle 20 - Author
Inst Agr Res & Technol, Anim Welf Program - Author
Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Dept Appl Anim Sci & Welf, Box 234 - Author
Wageningen Univ & Res, Real Estate & Housing Facil & Serv, Akkermaalsbos 12 - Author
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Abstract

The term discomfort is frequently used in for example biomedical studies, animal experimentation for farming purposes, animal welfare legislation, and ethical permits for animal experimentation. However, the concept of animal discomfort still remains unclear. Using the domesticated pig as a model, we performed a Walker and Avant concept analysis to develop an operational definition of animal discomfort. A total of 2,594 documents published in English were retrieved from Scopus database. Among them, 118 were retained for analysis as they contained either: 1 - a definition and/or measurement of discomfort in animals, including pigs; 2 - definition and/or measurement of pain, suffering, or sickness in pigs only. The literature review showed that animal discomfort intersects on three domains: physical, physiological, and mental discomfort. The presence of discomfort leads to a sense of uneasiness that results in behaviorally visible consequences comprising animals' attempts to avoid or alleviate the source(s) of this affective state. Accordingly, our proposed operational definition of animal discomfort is: short- or long-lived negative affective state featured by physical, physiological and/or mental components, induced by internal or external stimuli, ranging from mild to severe, potentially occurring together with other negative affective states, and leading to avoidance or attempt to alleviate the source of uneasiness. Access to a shared definition of this central concept in animal welfare may be one initial step to facilitate legislation consistency, improve animal research integrity, and ultimately promote a more sustainable livestock production.

Keywords

Affective stateAgricultural green transitionAnimal welfareBehaviorBiomedical researchCastrationCattleDairyDogsEmotionIntensive systemsPainTemperatureWelfareWorking group

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Livestock Science due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Veterinary (Miscellaneous).

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-12-14:

  • WoS: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-12-14:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 14.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 14 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 4.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 4 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/3097

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Denmark; Netherlands; Sweden.

Observations

EC/H2020/101004770/EU/An infrastructure for experimental research for sustainable pig production/PIGWEB

Awards linked to the item

This manuscript was developed as part of project PIGWEB funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101004770 .