BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY: A FIELD OF RESEARCH IN A CONSOLIDATION PROCESS

Abstract

This study aimed to carry out a bibliometric analysis of bibliographic production on environmental literacy, with special attention to authorship and co-authorship data. Bibliometric data were recovered using the Scopus platform for each of the keyword: “ecoliteracy”, “ecological literacy”, “environmental literacy”, “environmental literacy” AND (method* OR practic*). The results of descriptive data and bibliometric coupling networks maps based on co-authorship are presented. The results reveal that the researched words are part of a very recent investigation branch, with a dominance of “environmental literacy” concept in the literature. The main areas that correspond to the vast majority of publications are those of Social Sciences, followed by Environmental Sciences. Co-authorships tend to be established between authors within closed collaboration networks, with relative geographic and temporal isolation. And there is an inequality on a global and national scale in academic production. Publications on methodologies and practices of environmental literacy form an important part of the production. However, questions remain open about the effectiveness of the methodological approaches used, among others, possibly because “environmental literacy” is a very young field of knowledge and has not yet formed a unified body in terms of theoretical and methodological scope.