LAUSR

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated global plastic pollution. So has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the study of plastic pollution? This work aims to explore the impact of the pandemic on plastic pollution research through a comprehensively assess the status and outlook of plastic pollution research before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of mining the publications on the subject of plastic pollution in the Web of Science database indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the plastic pollution research: (i) The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the trend of publication output for plastic pollution research. The number of publications on plastic pollution has increased substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic; (ii) The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed the global research landscape on the plastic pollution. Since the outbreak of pandemic, more and more countries have begun to pay attention to the plastic pollution. Prior to the pandemic, developed countries were the global leaders in plastic pollution research. During the pandemic, developing countries accounted for an important share in the quality, quantity and international cooperation of publications; (iii) The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the major hotspots of plastic pollution research. Since the pandemic, there has been a significant change in research focus. Addressing plastic pollution has become a major research component. In-depth research on microplastics has been carried out during the pandemic. The results of mining the publications on the subject of plastic pollution also show that there is no effective solution to plastic pollution caused by the COVID-19, but especially considering the severity of the plastic pollution problem, it is very necessary to continue to carry out more research.