General Information

Bibliometric and visualization tools are effective for uncovering information contained in vast amounts of literature data. We retrieved publications from the Web of Science (2008–2020) and used the Statistical Analysis Toolkit for Informetrics (SATI) and CiteSpace to conduct a bibliometric analysis of emergy studies, review the focus of the studies, summarize current research, and identify academic trends. The SATI-based charts provided an overall description of yearly published articles, literature sources, high-frequency keywords, authors, institutions, and highly cited papers. CiteSpace was applied to determine the frontiers and hotspots of emergy theory. A dual-map analysis was used to reveal the connection between multiple disciplines. Keyword clustering analysis was performed to evaluate research hotspots. Moreover, burst analysis and timeline maps presented a holistic picture of cutting-edge issues and the evolutionary trajectory of emergy studies in recent years. An alluvial flow map analysis of the landmark literature depicted the transmission of knowledge in the emergy field. In addition, this article also evaluated the current status of collaborative research in emergy-related fields. The results can provide a reference for researchers to explore hot issues or target a specific field of study.