A Bibliometric and Scientometric Analysis of the Marine Biotechnology Research Using CiteSpace: A Web of Science Based Study (1980-2023)

Abstract

A growing interest in marine biotechnology has spurred the exploitation of oceanic resources for novel products. However, a comprehensive, data-driven mapping of this evolving landscape remains limited. This study presents a systematic scientometric analysis using CiteSpace to map global research trends and structural knowledge domains in marine biotechnology. Utilizing metadata extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database, we applied targeted search strings and strict inclusion criteria, focusing exclusively on original English-language research articles published between 1980 and 2023. After systematic screening and data cleaning, a final dataset of 3,092 documents was analyzed. Analytical measures, including publication trajectories, country co-authorship networks, reference co-citations, and keyword clustering, were evaluated to determine node centrality and network density. The results reveal an exponential publication surge after 2018, peaking in 2022. While the USA leads in total publication volume, European nations (such as France) exhibit the highest structural network centrality. Co-citation and keyword clustering identified "bacterial diversity," "deep-sea sponge," and "valuable pigment" as dominant, high-growth research fronts. Dynamically, these findings move beyond a descriptive summary to provide a foundational roadmap for researchers, industrial stakeholders, and policymakers to optimize funding allocation and target under-explored high-potential domains in the global blue economy.