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Microplastics in the marine environment: Current trends and future perspectives
Summary
Using a scientometric analysis of published literature, researchers mapped global trends in marine microplastic research from 2010 onward, finding rapid growth in publications, increasing geographic diversity, and a shift toward impacts and solutions. The analysis provides a high-level view of how the field has evolved and where research attention is currently concentrated.
Over the last decade, the presence of microplastics on marine environments has become an important environmental concern and focus of interest of many researches. Thus, to provide a more integrated view of the research trends regarding this topic, we use a scientometric approach to systematically assess and quantify advances in knowledge related to microplastics in the marine environment. The papers that we used for our assessment were obtained from the database Thomson Reuters (ISI Web of Science), between 2004 and 2014. Our results reveal the overall research performance in the study area of microplastics present in the marine environment over the past decade as a newly developed research field. It has been recognized that there are several important issues that should be investigated. Toward that end, based on the suggested directions on all papers reviewed, we point out areas/topics of interest that may guide future work in the coming years.