Knowledge mapping analysis of international research on environmental communication using bibliometrics

Environmental communication (EC) is of great significance to the practice of environmental protection by human society, as it involves disseminating ecological and environmental information, communicating environmental risks, and increasing environmental awareness among the audience. In this study, knowledge mapping analysis was used to systematically review research in the field of EC. A scientometric analysis (1900–2020) was carried out on 2219 journal articles obtained from the Web of Science database to explore the basic characteristics, research hotspots, and research frontiers of EC research. The results revealed that: (1) Research on EC received widespread attention since the beginning of the 21st century, and 2010 was an important turning point in the study of EC. EC research shows the trend of interdisciplinary development. (2) Well-known universities in western countries and from around the world constitute the main body of current EC research. However, there is still a lack of international cooperation in the field of EC research. (3) Climate change, as a complex scientific issue, is not only a global environmental issue, but also the most concerned and hot issue in the field of EC. It has a strong political attribute and has become a major issue that cannot be ignored in politics. (4) According to the timeline analysis of research hotspots, EC research was innovatively divided into an initial stage, a development stage, and a rising stage. Combined the keyword bursts result with the research hotspots analysis, the research frontier of EC was divided into four periods. Finally, the shortcomings of this study are summarized and directions for future research of EC are proposed by considering the following four aspects: research perspective, research content, research paradigm and method, and research context.