Changes in the Structures and Directions of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soil Remediation Research from 1999 to 2020: A Bibliometric & Scientometric Study

Dongping Shi, Chengyu Xie, Jinmiao Wang and Lichun Xiong
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Dongping Shi: School of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
Chengyu Xie: School of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
Jinmiao Wang: School of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
Lichun Xiong: Hunan Red Solar Photoelectricity Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Changsha 410002, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: The pollution of heavy metals in soil is a problem of great concern to international scholars today. This research investigates the current research activities in the field of soil heavy metal pollution remediation and discusses the current areas of research focus and development trends. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of the literature on soil heavy metal pollution remediation from 1999 to 2020. CiteSpace and Vosviewer were used to conduct document co-citation and cluster analyses on the collected data. The research was mainly carried out based on the following factors: chronological distribution, country and institution distribution, source journal analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and reference co-citation analysis. China (2173, 28.64%) and the United States (946, 12.47%) are the top two countries in terms of the number of articles published, and Environmental Science and Pollution Research (384, 5.06%) and Science of the Total Environment (345, 4.55%) published the most articles. The Chinese Academy of Science (485) is the organization that has contributed the most to the total number of publications. Furthermore, based on a keyword co-word analysis with Vosviewer and CitesSpace, it was concluded that the applications of phytoremediation and biochar in the remediation of heavy metals in soil are current research hotspots. Additionally, future research should focus on repair mechanisms, the development of new repair technology and joint repair systems.

Keywords: heavy metal-contaminated soil; remediation research; bibliometric analysis; intellectual structure; research trend (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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