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Research output analysis of municipal solid waste: a case study of China

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Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in China draws particular attention as China has become the largest MSW generator in the world. The paper analyzed the growth and development of MSW research productivity in China in terms of publication output as reflected in science citation index for the period 1997–2011. The study revealed that the output of MSW research in China has rapidly increased over the 15 years in contrast with USA. Chinese authors contributed 730 publications out of which 708 were journal articles, 17 reviews, 3 editorial materials, 1 correction and 1 meeting abstract, from 421 institutions. About 13.70 % of publications were contributed by Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by Tongji University, Shanghai (13.15) and Tsinghua University, Beijing (11.10 %). That impact factors of the top 20 journals publishing most papers were between 0.30 and 4.63. Leading 20 authors in the area of MSW research published at least 13 articles per person. The annual share of publications varied from 0.27 to 20.96 % per year. The share was highest in the year 2009 at 20.96 %. An analysis of the title-words showed that “landfill”, “incineration” and “management” were recent major topics of municipal solid waste research in China. The results could help researchers understand the characteristics of research output and search hot spots of MSW field in China.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported here was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51278212) and the Eleventh Five-year National Technology Supporting Plan Program of China (No. 2006BAC06B04).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Lie Yang, Zhulei Chen, Rui Wan & Jia Wang

  2. Huangshi Institute of Technology, Huangshi, 435000, People’s Republic of China

    Ting Liu

  3. Central and Southern China Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute Co. Ltd, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Wengang Xie

Authors
  1. Lie Yang
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  2. Zhulei Chen
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  3. Ting Liu
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  4. Rui Wan
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  5. Jia Wang
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  6. Wengang Xie
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Correspondence to Zhulei Chen.

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Yang, L., Chen, Z., Liu, T. et al. Research output analysis of municipal solid waste: a case study of China. Scientometrics 96, 641–650 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-0982-z

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