Research trends on anthropogenic activities and their impact on river health using bibliometric analysis

Rapid population growth and its stress on the environment have threatened river health and ecosystems in the twenty-first century. This study aims to analyze the existing literature on the relationship between anthropogenic activities and river health by looking spatio-temporal signatures. Relevant keywords were used to download metadata from Web of Science and Scopus (2002–2024) and utilized for bibliometric analysis to derive the result. The findings revealed that the global distribution of publications shows a highly uneven pattern. Early research in this field was largely dominated by High-Income Countries (HICs), including the United States and Australia; however, over the past decade a clear shift has occurred, with Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), particularly China and India, emerging as the leading contributors, while publication growth from HICs has been comparatively slower. The recent publication trend shows a growing research focus on river health challenges in LMICs, particularly in regions characterized by high population pressure and intensive human–river interactions, as evidenced by the increasing publication output from China and India. The present study provides an understanding in the domain of anthropogeomorphology for emerging researchers and assists scholars in recognizing further prospective avenues for collaboration, research frontiers, and trends.