A bibliometric analysis on the current situation and hot trends of the impact of microplastics on soil based on CiteSpace

TL;DR

This bibliometric study analyzes global research trends on soil microplastics from 2013 to 2024, highlighting publication growth, key research topics, and stages of development, to guide future investigations and pollution control efforts.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of soil microplastics research using CiteSpace, revealing development stages, key clusters, and future research directions.

Findings

Publication count peaked at 956 articles in 2024.

Research evolved through three stages: exploration, expansion, and integration.

Key topics include plastic pollution and microbial communities.

Abstract

This paper aims to comprehensively grasp the research status and development trends of soil microplastics (MPs). It collects studies from the Web of Science Core Collection covering the period from 2013 to 2024. Employing CiteSpace and VOSviewer, the paper conducts in - depth analyses of literature regarding the environmental impacts of microplastics. These analyses involve keyword co - occurrence, clustering, burst term identification, as well as co - occurrence analysis of authors and institutions. Microplastics can accumulate in soil, transfer through food chains, and ultimately affect human health, making the research on them essential for effective pollution control. Focusing on the international research on the impacts of microplastics on soil and ecosystems, the study reveals a steadily increasing trend in the number of publications each year, reaching a peak of 956 articles in 2024. A small number of highly productive authors contribute significantly to the overall research output. The keyword clustering analysis results in ten major clusters, including topics such as plastic pollution and microbial communities. The research on soil microplastics has evolved through three distinct stages: the preliminary exploration phase from 2013 to 2016, the expansion phase from 2017 to 2020, and the integration phase from 2021 to 2024. For future research, multi - level assessments of the impacts of microplastics on soil ecosystems and organisms should be emphasized, in order to fully uncover the associated hazards and develop practical solutions.