Analysis of Research Trends in Mine Safety/Mining Safety (MS) from the Perspective of a Comparative Vision

Mine safety/Mining Safety (MS) is gaining significant attention in underground mine worldwide. Therefore, studies of MS have gained huge interest all over the world. However, little studies of MS reveal the map of the research field by big data from the perspective of a comparative vision over the past 23-year timespan. To this end, this study used big data and visualization tool (Vosviewer) to comparatively provide a comprehensive systematic mapping of MS studies in the WOSCC and Scopus. A total of 415 (WOSCC) and 691 (Scopus) articles were finally included. The number of articles shows a growth trend during 2000-2022, especially in the last five years. The most prolific authors are mainly from China which has published the highest number of articles. China is also the leading country in MS study, followed by USA. Safety Science is the top-publishing journal in the WOSCC (37, 8.92%) and Scopus (37, 5.35%), with the highest number of citations (1290 in the WOSCC and 1519 in the Scopus). Of Top10 most cited articles, 6 articles are published by Chinese authors in the WOSCC, and 4 articles from Chinese authors in the Scopus. China Univ Min and Technol had the most articles (60 in the WOSCC and 72 in the Scopus), but the average number of their citations per article (17.15) was somewhat low, though its total citations ranked first. In the WOSCC, Shandong Univ Sci and Technol has the highest number of citations per article (29.00), while in the Scopus, Univ Queensland ranks first in the average number of their citations (31.58). The main findings provide insights for MS researchers and policy-makers on the trends, progress, and future direction of the MS study.