Global research on soil contamination from 1999 to 2012: A bibliometric analysis

Guo, K.; Liu, Y.F.; Zeng, C.; Chen, Y.Y.; Wei, X.J.

Global research on soil contamination from 1999 to 2012: A bibliometric analysis

2014

Guo, K. | Liu, Y.F. | Zeng, C. | Chen, Y.Y. | Wei, X.J.

We evaluated soil contamination research based on a bibliometric analysis of 14,090 articles published in journals in the Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index bibliographic databases from 1999 to 2012, which revealed scientific outputs, subject categories and major journals, international collaboration and geographic distribution of authors and countries, keywords, and hot issues. The results suggested that research on soil contamination developed well with increasing scientific production and research collaboration. Environmental science, engineering environment, soil science, and applied microbiology were the most frequently used subject categories in soil contamination studies. Chemosphere was the most active journal in this field. The clusters of authors were more in the USA, Western European countries, China, Japan, and India. Q. X. Zhou of Nankai University was the most productive author, and S. P. Mcgrath of Rothamsted Research England published the most influential articles. The USA exceeded all other countries with the most independent and collaborative papers in research on global soil contamination. Heavy metal pollution was the hottest issue, and bioremediation is the most promising research topic in combating against heavy metal pollution of soils. The status of publication on soil contamination research described here is significant for researchers on soil contamination in their future work.

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