The Trends and Content of Research Related to the Sustainable Development Goals: A Systemic Review

Featured Application Bibliometric analysis of SDG-related papers with CATAR can help academic scholars, public sectors, and practitioners utilize the growing volume of literature. This study employed a comprehensive systematic review of the literature (SRL) process with the Content Analysis Toolkits for Academic Research (CATAR) for conducting a bibliometric analysis of the 2814 general SDG-related papers and 92 review papers selected from the Web of Science database from 2013 to 2022. The overview analysis found that the US and UK took the lead in publication and citation. The WHO and several universities were identified as the most prominent institutes around the globe. The field distribution of the most cited papers revealed the existence of a strong sustainability paradigm and the importance of science and technology. A landscape of 1123 papers was included in eight clusters according to the bibliographic coupling algorithms in the Multi-stage Document Clustering (MSDC) process. These clusters were then categorized into three groups, synergies and trade-offs, networking, and systems analysis, demonstrated in the theme maps. As for the 92 SDG-related review papers, most were shaped based on literature analysis without specified countries. Moreover, SDG 3 was identified as that exclusively studied in most papers. The information presented is expected to help research scholars, public sectors, and practitioners monitor, gather, check, analyze, and use the growing volume of SDG-related academic articles.

Automated summary

Bibliometric analysis of 2814 SDG-related papers was conducted using the CATAR tool, identifying leading countries and institutions, as well as categorizing research fields. Additionally, analysis of 92 review papers revealed a focus on specific areas, providing valuable information for scholars and practitioners.