Data for: Sources, abundances, size and distribution of microplastic in marine sediments - a Critical Review
Description
Microplastics are prevalent in marine environments. A scientometric analysis of 364 data points provides the basis for sources, abundances, and spatial distribution of microplastic in marine sediments. This review aims to describe the state-of-the-art study of microplastic and marine pollution between 2010 and 2020 using Harzing’s Publish or Perish. 364 journal articles were analyzed through the combination of scientometric analysis and critical reviews. Publication, keywords analysis, and bibliographical data and evolution of microplastic were visualized using VOSviewer. We identified microplastics in the marine environment on 308 different sites by the authors of 67 countries. Four research concepts and corresponding challenges of microplastic in the marine environment.
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In the past decade (2010–2020), the scientometric analysis revealed the overall research progress of microplastics as a newly developed area of study in the marine environment. This shows that this field has had a continuous growth of publications. This shows the significant progress of publications in this field. Review papers like this present study allow the research community to recognize and identify lagging areas for which microplastic studies can continue to focus. Consequently, the scientific community’s commitment through further research studies will therefore be essential in understanding the true consequences of these rapidly growing micro-contaminants, which are prevalent in coastal and oceanic environments. Moreover, the authors propose the need to adopt a standardized protocol worldwide with consistency in unit of expression.