Trends and developments in marine debris studies: A bibliometric review over two decades (2004-2024)

Marine debris has become a serious global environmental issue due to its increasing impacts on marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health. Large amounts of waste enter the oceans each year from a wide range of sources, originating from both land-based and marine activities. Ocean circulation allows marine debris to spread across national boundaries. Addressing marine debris therefore requires coordinated global actions supported by strong scientific evidence. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of marine debris research based on 1679 English-language journal articles indexed in the Scopus database from 2004 to 2024. Data were analysed using bibliometric mapping techniques with VOSviewer to examine publication trends, leading journals and authors, contributing countries, collaboration networks, and keyword co-occurrence patterns. The result show a significant increase in publication output after 2017, indicating growing global attention, particularly toward plastic pollution. Environmental Science is the dominant subject area, with Marine Pollution Bulletin identified as the most productive journal. The United States, Australia, and United Kingdom emerged as the leading contributors, supported by strong international collaboration networks. Keyword analysis reveals that plastic debris and microplastics remain the central research themes, along with emerging opportunities from advanced technologies, including remote sensing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and citizen science. These findings highlight the need for interdisciplinary approaches and strengthen international collaboration to enhance monitoring, management, and mitigation strategies for marine debris.