Global research performances on water footprint: A review and
bibliometric analysis
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to outline global performance and to
quantitatively evaluate the current research field hot spots, and the
future trends about the water footprint. Bibliometric methods are used
to analyze 861 records retrieved from the collection of Web of Science
Core (WoS). The performance of publications, categories, countries,
institutes, research hot spots, and trends is analyzed in this study by
applying CiteSpace and VOSviewer tools. The results revealed that
publications about water footprint have experienced two stages: a stable
rising period and a rapid rising period. The research pertaining to
water footprint is mainly in the fields of virtual water, water use
efficiency, water scarcity, water pollution, etc. The People’s Republic
of China, The United States of America, Iran, New Zealand, and Italy get
higher rankings in paper output, and the Chinese Acad of Sciences,
Beijing Normal University, Northwest A&F University, Beijing Forestry
University, University of Twente and Hohai University achieve a high
ranking on water footprint research. In addition, further studies in
research frontiers have revealed that climate change, sustainable
agriculture, and water conservation will become popular directions and
trends in water footprint research.