Research and trends in the field of wetlands education: A bibliometric analysis of journals in the U.S.

Abstract

This study aims to reference United States academic library databases to elucidate the characteristics of wetlands education research. It focuses on the evaluation trends pertaining to research related to wetlands education, both quantitatively and in terms of factors that have attracted the most attention. Bibliographic databases were utilized to scrutinize research trends and to conduct bibliometric analyses that emphasized the understanding of secular changes in research related to wetlands education. The literature was widely reviewed without being limited to specific academic journals. Specifically, the investigation was oriented toward (1) comprehending the secular changes in research on wetlands education, (2) organizing research topics by title, abstract, keywords, and publication type, and (3) identifying trends in the themes encompassing wetlands education research. The results of the survey indicate that wetlands education is an important aspect of environmental education in the sustainable development goals era at this critical juncture when human civilization is vulnerable to climate change. Thus, rather than being limited to the natural sciences, wetlands education must be highlighted and integrated into interdisciplinary curricula that include the social sciences. This emphasis should be achieved through the amelioration of knowledge, understanding, and communication related to wetland conservation. It is critical for researchers to clearly distinguish between the development of educational curricula and activities and to accumulate research regarding their applications. The present review found that the type of papers shifted, and the overall number of papers increased greatly between 1993 and 2002. The marked increase in the number of articles indicates that the domain of wetlands education research is still developing. As the field of wetlands research continues to grow, researchers must cross disciplinary boundaries to resolve problems such as climate change and water crises because such issues cannot be handled by any single domain of study.