Mapping the Research Landscape of Marginal Land Productivity: A Multi-Dimensional Bibliometric Analysis

Marginal land refers to areas where environmental constraints prevent cost-effective production; driven by global energy and food security strategies and greenhouse gas reduction targets, its potential productivity has garnered significant attention. However, macro-level and data-driven knowledge graph analyses remain scarce. Therefore, this study employed VOSviewer, Bibliometrix R, and CiteSpace to conduct a bibliometric analysis of 2535 Web of Science Core Collection documents (1995 to 2025). Findings reveal that: (1) The research is split into four stages—early exploration, fluctuating development, rapid growth, and stable output, peaking at 191 papers in 2021. (2) The collaboration of authors and institutions has reached an initial scale but remains relatively weak, with Lewandowski and the Chinese Academy of Sciences occupying the core of the co-authorship network. The United States (N = 501) ranks as the top-producing country. France (MCP% = 56.8%) leads in international collaboration intensity, and US—China cooperation is the most frequent. (3) Journals primarily focus on environmental science and agronomy, with Global Change Biology Bioenergy leading with 109 publications. (4) Through consolidating core keywords like “marginal lands,” “biomass,” and “productivity” into four perspectives: technological/model interventions, farmer behavioral choices, natural baseline conditions, and theoretical understanding, this study constructs a comprehensive framework to help research become sustainable.