title: Microplastics in the marine environment: Current trends and future perspectives.
abstract: Over the last decade, the presence of microplastics on marine environments has become an important environmental concern and focus of interest of many researches. Thus, to provide a more integrated view of the research trends regarding this topic, we use a scientometric approach to systematically assess and quantify advances in knowledge related to microplastics in the marine environment. The papers that we used for our assessment were obtained from the database Thomson Reuters (ISI Web of Science), between 2004 and 2014. Our results reveal the overall research performance in the study area of microplastics present in the marine environment over the past decade as a newly developed research field. It has been recognized that there are several important issues that should be investigated. Toward that end, based on the suggested directions on all papers reviewed, we point out areas/topics of interest that may guide future work in the coming years.
authors.affiliation: CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, 70040-020 Brasília, DF, Brazil. Electronic address: gabrielbarbboza@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luís Gabriel Antão
authors.initials: LGA
authors.lastname: Barboza
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Center for Marine Studies (CEM), Coastal and Oceanic Systems Graduate Program (PGSISCO), Av. Beira-Mar, s/n, 83255-976 Pontal do Paraná, Pontal do Sul, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Barbara Carolina Garcia
authors.initials: BCG
authors.lastname: Gimenez
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends*; D012623:Seawater; D012693:Serial Publications / Q000639:trends*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Emerging pollutants; Marine debris; Microplastic; Plastic pollution