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A large-scale bibliometric analysis of global climate change research between 2001 and 2018

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Abstract

Global climate change is attracting widespread scientific, political, and public attention owing to the involvement of international initiatives such as the Paris Agreement and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We present a large-scale bibliometric analysis based on approximately 120,000 climate change publications between 2001 and 2018 to examine how climate change is studied in scientific research. Our analysis provides an overview of scientific knowledge, shifts of research hotspots, global geographical distribution of research, and focus of individual countries. In our analysis, we identify five key fields in climate change research: physical sciences, paleoclimatology, climate-change ecology, climate technology, and climate policy. We draw the following key conclusions: (1) Over the investigated time period, the focus of climate change research has shifted from understanding the climate system toward climate technologies and policies, such as efficient energy use and legislation. (2) There is an imbalance in scientific production between developed and developing countries. (3) Geography, national demands, and national strategies have been important drivers that influence the research interests and concerns of researchers in different countries. Our study can be used by researchers and policymakers to reflect on the directions in which climate change research is developing and discuss priorities for future research.

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Availability of data and materials

Our research is based on data from the Web of Science database. This is a proprietary database. We are not allowed to share the data used in our research.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71804163).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Resources Management, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Hui-Zhen Fu

  2. Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Ludo Waltman

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  1. Hui-Zhen Fu
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Contributions

Hui-Zhen Fu: conceptualization, methodology, data curation, visualization, software, writing-original draft preparation, funding acquisition. Ludo Waltman: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, software, writing-reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Hui-Zhen Fu.

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Fu, HZ., Waltman, L. A large-scale bibliometric analysis of global climate change research between 2001 and 2018. Climatic Change 170, 36 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03324-z

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