Abstract: This article has the general aim of assessing the worldwide research productivity of Elaeis guineensis Jacq. and Elaeis oleifera or more commonly known as oil palm, as reflected by the literature indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. Specifically, the research aims to identify the most productive countries, institutions and authors in this area of research. It also investigates the subject characteristics of the publication and collaborative patterns among researchers and institutions. Overall, based on the number of publications indexed by both WoS and Scopus, the Asian region, represented by seven countries, are the dominant producers of publications in this field, of which Malaysia is in the number one position. Whereas, USA and some European countries, such as United Kingdom and France, are also leading in terms of publications and citations. Research in the areas of food science and technology (WoS) as well as agricultural and biological sciences (Scopus) account for the highest number of publications. High levels of collaboration among authors are evident among the top 10 most productive countries. This is a good indication of collaboration impact with increased research output. * Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: abrizah@um.edu.my 52.3 million tonnes for 2012/2013 (United States Department of Agriculture, 2012). It is thus by far the most widely-produced tropical oil, and constitutes almost 38% of total edible oil production worldwide (Basiron, 2011). From 1998 until late 2008, the international demand for palm oil had increased consistently, leading to alteration in the price of crude palm oil. Over 85% of the world’s crude palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia (Timms, 2007), providing a considerable income to the national and regional governments of these two countries. Since 1970s, Malaysia has strengthened its position as the primary producer and exporter of world palm oil. In line with the very rapid expansion of planted area, Indonesia overtook Malaysia as the world’s biggest palm oil producer in 2007. The global production of palm oil has increased more than nine-fold in the past three decades, supplying the major markets including the European Union, China, Pakistan, India and Indonesia. Significant increases in production were also seen in countries INTRODUCTION Palm oil which is produced from the fruits of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq. and Elaeis oleifera) is the second largest edible oil worldwide, after soyabean oil. The Elaeis guineensis Jacq. originated from Africa, whilst the Elaeis oleifera originated from South America. In the past decade, palm oil was the highest produce of the world’s production of oils and fats (Oil World, 2010), exceeding soyabean oil in terms of global production in 2005 (Cheng, 2010). Worldwide, palm oil production for season 2011/2012 was 50.3 million tonnes, increasing to