Charting the waters: a bibliometric analysis of blue economy research

PurposeThis study aims to systematically review the scientific literature concerning blue economy research, which has notably risen in significance over recent decades owing to considerations such as sustainability, management of water resources and climate change mitigation, among other factors.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses bibliometric analysis on 1,052 scientific publications from 2000 to 2023, retrieved from Scopus. The Bibliometrix package in R Studio facilitated analysis of thematic clusters, key authors and global collaborations.FindingsThe key themes are water supply, governance, sustainability and climate change, identifying the field as multidisciplinary. The leading countries in blue economy research are the USA, China and India, underlying their strategic economic view on this field due to their access to the sea and ocean.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this analysis is the language of scientific publications and the use of Scopus, which might result in fewer native publications in other languages. The study assists policymakers in formulating regulations, frameworks and rules that are more rooted in scientific evidence. In addition, it enables researchers to investigate relatively unexplored domains within the blue economy landscape and facilitates investors in making more informed decisions regarding their capital allocation.Originality/valueThe originality is based on the application of a quantitative methodology, specifically a bibliometric analysis rooted in scholarly publications pertaining to the topic of the blue economy. This is complemented by the multidisciplinary character of the field, evidenced by the employment of search keywords to identify publications within Scopus.