A scientometrics review on nonpoint source pollution research

•Certain characteristics of nonpoint source pollution research were visualized by Citespace during 2001-2015.•The research attention on nonpoint source pollution was not evenly distributed around the world.•Nonpoint source pollution research includes control measures, modeling, pollutants, research regions and technologies.•The future researches on nonpoint source pollution will likely focus on SWAT application, GIS and ecological measures.

The purpose of this paper is to make insights into certain characteristics of nonpoint source pollution research, and consequently to show the global trends as well as assist researchers to establish future research directions. Based on the SCI-E and SSCI databases, 3246 journal articles on nonpoint source pollution were retrieved from 2001 to 2015. Nonpoint source pollution research maintained steady growth in the past 15 years. Among all countries, USA was the most active contributor with the most publications and cooperation. As for institutions, Chinese Academy of Sciences ranked first with 143 articles, and USDA-ARS in USA played a key role for intimate collaboration with other institutions. And most articles were recorded by Environmental Sciences & Ecology, Environmental Sciences and Water Resources. Further, Journal of Environmental Quality and Water Research were the most productive and influential journals, respectively. Based on keyword co-word and reference co-citation analysis by Citespace, nonpoint source pollution research includes multiple areas (control measures, modeling, pollutants, research regions and technologies). And future researches on nonpoint source pollution will likely focus on SWAT application, GIS and ecological measures.