A Bibliometric Analysis of the Trends and Characteristics of Railway Research

Diogo Da Fonseca-Soares (), Josicleda Domiciano Galvinicio, Sayonara Andrade Eliziário and Angel Fermin Ramos-Ridao
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Diogo Da Fonseca-Soares: Brazilian Company of Urban Trains, Square Napoleao Laureano, 01, Varadouro, João Pessoa 58010-150, Brazil
Josicleda Domiciano Galvinicio: Department of Geographical Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Avenue Professor Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Universitária, Recife 50670-901, Brazil
Sayonara Andrade Eliziário: Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba, Campus I, Castelo Branco III, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil
Angel Fermin Ramos-Ridao: Civil Engineering Department, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva, s/n. E.T.S Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, 18071 Granada, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: A retrospective bibliometric analysis of the railway sector covering the 20-year period between 2002 and 2021 was carried out to better understand the characteristics of the railway research. The Scopus database contained 1918 articles published with the keywords “Rail System”. VOSviewer software was used to create network maps from each of the variables studied. The results showed a huge increase in the number of publications over this period—notably, work written by Zhang, Y.T., who was found to be the most productive author. Engineering was found to be the most studied subject area of knowledge; Transportation Research Record was the journal with the highest number of publications; and China was revealed to be the leading country regarding this research field, Southwest Jiaotong University being the leading institution in this topic. Finally, there was a lack of research on the environmental impact and sustainability of railway systems, an area that could be opened up for future study.

Keywords: rail system; literature review; transportation sector; sustainability and development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:13956-:d:954890

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