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Bibliometric Analysis of Highly Cited Papers on Resources and the Environment in China
by Guosheng Han 1,†ORCID,Rundong Luo 1,†,Kaiyue Sa 2,*,Min Zhuang 3 andHui Li 4
1
School of Business, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
2
School of Finance, Shandong Technology and Business University, Yantai 264005, China
3
School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
4
School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Weihai 264209, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020604
Submission received: 28 October 2021 / Revised: 30 December 2021 / Accepted: 31 December 2021 / Published: 6 January 2022
(This article belongs to the Topic Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability)
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Abstract
To review the current state of resources and environmental sciences in China, this study assessed highly cited papers of five leading CSSCI journals sourced from the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database. The fields of resources and environmental sciences were the research focus, and the bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace was used to perform co-occurrence analysis on keywords, authors, and research institutions based on bibliometrics and social network analysis. Furthermore, the research hotspots, scientist groups, and main cooperation models in the field of resources and environmental sciences in China were also explored. The results show that: (1) For 30 years, the interdisciplinarity of resources and environmental sciences has become more and more intense, and research themes have become increasingly extensive. The research hotspots of highly cited papers focused on energy, ecology, land, water resources, and sustainable development. In recent years, problems associated with energy and carbon emissions have aroused great interest. The ecological and sustainable development of resources and environmental elements has emerged as a future research trend. (2) An analysis of scientist-oriented networks shows that highly cited papers are mostly published by group authors. Scientists work closely within their respective academic groups, while intergroup academic cooperation is rare. Furthermore, connectedness between cooperation networks is poor, and scientists are largely connected through their research institutions. Cooperation among scientists is greatly affected by their geographical locations. Research institutions in the same region are more likely to cooperate. Beijing and Nanjing are high-producing areas of highly cited papers. The Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources, CAS, is the most influential research institution. This paper introduces the state-of-the-art research hotspots of Chinese resources and environmental sciences to international academic circles and provides a basis for the research practice of resources and environmental sciences worldwide.
