Global research hotspots and trends on microplastics: a bibliometric analysis

In recent years, microplastics have become an integral part of the terrestrial and aquatic environments, which is one of the major concerns of communities around the world. Therefore, it is necessary to know the current status of studies and feasible potentials in the future. This study, conducted an in-depth bibliometric analysis of publications from 1990 to 2022 to present the influential countries, authors, institutes, papers, and journals on microplastics. Findings reveal that there has been a steady increase in microplastic publications and citations in recent years. And, the number of publications and citations has increased 19 and 35 times since 2015. Besides, we performed a comprehensive keyword analysis to show the significant keywords and clusters in this field. In particular, this study used the TF-IDF method as a text-mining analysis to extract the new keywords used in recent years (i.e., 2020-2022). New keywords can draw the attention of scholars to important issues and provide a basis for future research directions.

Automated summary

In recent years, microplastics have become a prominent issue in both terrestrial and aquatic environments, drawing concerns from communities worldwide. This study conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of publications from 1990 to 2022 to identify influential countries, authors, institutes, papers, and journals in the field of microplastics. The findings indicate a significant increase in the number of microplastic publications and citations in recent years, with an increase of 19 and 35 times since 2015. Additionally, a keyword analysis was performed to highlight the important keywords and clusters in this field, while the TF-IDF method was used to extract new keywords used in recent years, providing insights for future research directions.