Bibliometric Analysis of Carbon Finance and Carbon Markets: Research Methods and Data Sources

1. Research Methods and Data Sources

1.1 Research Methods

Currently, bibliometrics has been widely applied in various disciplines. Bibliometric methods serve two main purposes: performance analysis and scientific mapping' [6]. Performance analysis aims to evaluate the research and publication performance of individuals and institutions, while scientific mapping aims to reveal the structure and dynamics of scientific fields' [7].

Commonly used software for bibliometric analysis includes R studio' [8], Vosviewer' [9], Citespace' [10], Gephi' [11], BibExcel' [12], and Histcite' [13]. However, Histcite cannot be used due to its limitations in understanding Scopus data, as our data is derived from the Scopus database' [14]. BibExcel requires professional knowledge and experience to perform basic analysis in a complex operating environment' [15]. In addition, Citespace is used to convert the Scopus database to the WoS format for better merging of data and eliminating data duplication' [16]. Therefore, in this study, Citespace and Vosviewer are used for bibliometric analysis in the field of carbon finance and carbon markets.

1.2 Data Sources

Web of Science and Scopus databases are used in this study, which are widely used citation indexes for bibliometrics and systematic literature evaluation. Considering the technical difficulties in merging different databases, researchers often choose to use only one database. A study by Gavel & Iselid (2008)' [17] confirmed that there is only a 50% overlap between the Scopus and WoS databases. Therefore, we use both databases to minimize the exclusion of high-quality relevant articles.

On November 19, 2022, we conducted searches in the Web of Science Core Collection SSCI and SCI-E and the Scopus database using the search terms 'carbon finan*', 'carbon market*', 'carbon trad*', 'carbon pric*', 'carbon asset*', and 'carbon tax*' as title keywords. We limited the document types to articles and reviews and the time span from 1992 to 2022. The search results were imported into Citespace for merging, and duplicate results were removed. In total, we obtained 5689 articles. The results were further analyzed using Vosviewer.