Coronavirus disease-19 in environmental fields: a bibliometric and visualization mapping analysis.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Public Health
• Bibliometrics

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound global impacts, necessitating research into its environmental dimensions.
• Understanding research trends is crucial for developing effective environmental strategies.
• Previous research has focused on medical and socioeconomic aspects, with less emphasis on environmental impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To track current hotspots and research trends in environmental fields concerning COVID-19.
• To evaluate the development of knowledge on COVID-19's environmental impacts using bibliometric analysis.
• To identify key research topics and methodologies in this domain.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric analysis and visualization mapping were employed.
• A dataset of 729 environmental documents related to COVID-19 was collected from the Scopus database.
• Analysis included publication types, leading countries, institutions, and prevalent research topics.

Main Results:

• China, the USA, and Italy are the leading countries in COVID-19 environmental research.
• The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the most productive institution.
• Prevalent topics include the pandemic's impacts on air quality, mental health, and economic aspects, utilizing methods like remote sensing and GIS.

Conclusions:

• Bibliometric analysis reveals significant global research activity on COVID-19's environmental impacts.
• Key research areas focus on air quality, psychological, and economic effects.
• Future environmental research progress will inform global strategies for managing environmental risks.