Bibliometric Assessment of International Developments in Paper Sludge Research Using Scopus Database

Abstract

Energy viability and waste disposal have been the two significant global complication. The consumption of paper and, subsequently, recycling are increasingly growing, contributing to vast quantities of paper sludge. Therefore, in waste disposal and environmental remediation, coping with massive volumes of paper sludge has received tremendous attention worldwide. Our purpose was to assess leading study advancements globally of paper sludge based on articles published, authors intra/inter-collaborations and accumulations of keywords. Throughout entire 1967–2019 duration, 2096 publications in paper sludge topic were mined using Scopus database. The findings revealed that the number of publications was less than 30 between 1967 and 1995, less than 60 between 1996 and 2005, less than 90 between 2006 and 2010 and more than 90 between 2011 and the recent year. Consequently, the yearly publishing is forecast to keep to expand. In a total of 125 journals, a total of 217 Canadian scholars from 155 universities lead to 263 papers, comprising 10.8 % total publications, where 261 (99.2 %) of 263 total English-language publications dominate the other countries/territories, while 0.8 % in French language. Also, from each of the 15 top countries, among the most productive universities, Université Laval was ranked 251st in World University Rankings 2021. In review, the following present developments in paper sludge comprise of: (i) cement, cellulose, bioethanol/biogas and concrete; (ii) phytoremediation and vermicompost and (iii) modelling (e.g., response surface methodology).

Keywords

• paper sludge
• bibliometric analysis
• wastewater treatment
• keywords cooccurrence
• scopus database