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Bibliometric analysis of microplastic pollution in marine and coastal environments: trends and perspectives
Original title: Análise bibliométrica da poluição por microplásticos em ambientes marinhos e costeiros: tendências e perspectivas
Summary
This study doesn't test microplastics directly—instead, it reviews and maps over 6,500 scientific papers to show how research on ocean and coastal microplastic pollution has grown since the 1980s, revealing it's now a major, well-established field of study involving scientists worldwide. While it doesn't reveal new health findings, it confirms that concern about microplastics' effects on marine life—and potentially on the people who eat seafood—is backed by a large and rapidly expanding body of scientific evidence, not just isolated studies.
The global increase in plastic production and the inefficient management of its waste have turned microplastic pollution into a growing threat to marine and coastal ecosystems, affecting biota, ecological functions, and human health. This study aimed to quantitatively analyse the scientific evolution of research on microplastic pollution in marine and coastal environments, identifying patterns of growth, collaboration, and thematic specialisation. Bibliometric mapping was applied to 6,510 records retrieved from Scopus (1980–2026) using Bibliometrix 5.1.1 and VOSviewer 1.6.20, assessing indicators of productivity, impact, cooperation, Lotka’s and Bradford’s laws, and RPYS spectrography. Results reveal an annual growth rate of 5.55%, involving 15,398 authors, an average of 11.6 co-authors per article, 29.48% international collaboration, and a mean citation rate of 65.9 per document. Marine Pollution Bulletin leads the field with 1,332 articles, while China ranks first in global output (1,387 documents), followed by the United States (735) and Italy (585). The dominant subject areas are Environmental Sciences (38.6%) and Biological Sciences (17.9%). In conclusion, research on marine–coastal microplastics has reached a stage of structural maturity and international impact, consolidating itself as a key interdisciplinary field for ocean pollution mitigation and the advancement of SDGs 6, 12, and 14.