Current Status and Outlook of Roadbed Slope Stability Research: Study Based on Knowledge Mapping Bibliometric Network Analysis

Landslide hazards on roadbed slopes pose significant safety risks, leading to casualties, property losses, and environmental damage. With the rapid expansion of global railway and highway construction, roadbed slope stability has become a critical research focus. However, systematic reviews and prospective studies based on bibliometric analysis in this field remain limited; such a lack is likely to lead to a lag in the theoretical development of the field. To address this gap, this study analyzes 453 papers from 2014 to 2023 using the Web of Science (WOS) core collection and tools like VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix R. This study focuses on the following: (i) Visualizing research trends through knowledge graphs, covering document quantity, the authors, the countries, and the keywords. (ii) The objectives, the methods, specific objects, and the environmental conditions of the literature in this field are categorized and discussed, and the limitations of numerical simulation and other research shortcomings in this field are pointed out. (iii) Future research directions, focusing on the actual working conditions and utilizing advanced and flexible subroutine functions to simulate complex conditions with multi-physical field coupling, are discussed to ensure the accuracy of this research and the sustainability of road construction development. This paper can help scholars comprehensively and quickly understand the research status and hotspots in the field of roadbed slope research, with a view to providing theoretical support for future research and exploration.