Tracking the plastic footprint: a bibliometric mapping of microplastics research in Asia (2015–2025)

• This study provides the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 3,797 Scopus-indexed publications on microplastics research in Asia from 2015 to 2025 • Results reveal an exponential growth of research output since 2019, with China, India, and Indonesia emerging as leading contributors to global knowledge production. • Co-citation analysis identifies four intellectual foundations of the field: foundational reviews, environmental pathways, global plastics accounting, and ecological impacts. • Co-word analysis uncovers three thematic domains—pollution sources and detection, ecological and biological effects, and environmental fate and transport—showing the field’s thematic evolution. • Findings demonstrate a paradigm shift from descriptive studies to interdisciplinary, solution-oriented research, informing policy, risk assessment, and governance strategies for mitigating the microplastics crisis. The accelerating crisis of microplastic pollution poses urgent environmental and public health challenges, yet despite Asia’s pivotal role as both a major source of plastic leakage and a rapidly growing research hub, no study has systematically mapped its scholarly landscape over the past decade. This study addresses this gap by conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 3,797 Scopus-indexed articles published between 2015 and 2025, employing an integrated approach that combines performance analysis, co-citation analysis, and co-word analysis using VOSviewer software. The results reveal an exponential surge in research output since 2019, with China, India, and Indonesia emerging as key contributors. Citation analysis highlights seminal works on atmospheric transport, soil contamination, and human ingestion as influential drivers of the field. Co-citation mapping identifies four intellectual clusters, mainly foundational conceptual frameworks, environmental pathways, global plastics accounting, and ecological impacts. Meanwhile co-word analysis uncovers three thematic domains: pollution sources and detection, ecological and biological effects, and environmental fate and transport. Overlay visualization further demonstrates a temporal shift from early descriptive and methodological studies toward interdisciplinary, solution-oriented research integrating ecological risk assessment and human health concerns. By synthesizing a decade of scholarship, this study provides a critical evidence base for guiding future research priorities and informs risk assessment strategies, policy design, and global governance efforts aimed at mitigating the escalating microplastics crisis.