DOI: 10.26650/ijegeo.1891590 ISSN: 2148-9173

A Bibliometric Analysis of Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Research: Trends, Themes and Global Research Dynamics (2021-2025)

Erkan Uğurlu, Ece Kılıç
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Water quality monitoring has become a critical research area due to increasing human-induced pressures, climate variability, and the need for sustainable water resource management. Over the past decade, rapid technological advancements and methodological diversification have significantly reshaped this field. However, existing syntheses have either examined broader river-pollution research or focused on specific technological and pollutant-related domains, leaving the recent interdisciplinary structure of water quality monitoring and assessment insufficiently integrated. This study systematically examines the global research trend of water quality monitoring and assessment literature published between 2021 and 2025 by conducting a bibliometric analysis based solely on records indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. A total of 6111 publications were analyzed using performance indicators and scientific mapping techniques implemented in VOSviewer. The results reveal a significant and accelerating increase in the number of scientific publications, rising from 1041 in 2021 to 1608 in 2025, indicating an intensification of research activity during the period under review. Publications are predominantly concentrated in the fields of environmental sciences (2933 publications) and water resources (1654 publications), with China (1890 publications), the United States (793 publications) and India (719 publications) identified as leading contributing countries. The temporal overlay positioned remote sensing, IoT-based sensors and artificial intelligence among the relatively recent technological themes within the network. This study provides a concise and up-to-date overview of recent research trends in water quality monitoring, supporting future methodological innovations, interdisciplinary integration, and evidence-based environmental decision-making.

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