Trends and status in resources security, ecological stability, and sustainable development research: a systematic analysis

Resources are essential for human survival and development, and resource security occupies an important position in national security. With the increasing resource shortage problem, ecological stability is facing severe challenges. All countries are actively seeking new sustainable development ways to deal with various issues and shocks caused by the shortage of resources. This study aims to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the knowledge structure, research hotspots, and resource security evolution trends. Based on the number of 6391 articles retrieved from the Web of Science database from 1990 to 2021, this article carried out a visual analysis of global resource security research from the perspectives of scientific output characteristics, keywords, and highly cited literature scientific collaboration networks and hotspot emergence analysis. The research results show that after humans have experienced new public safety incidents, their understanding of resource security and sustainable development has risen to a new height. The number of relevant documents is increasing rapidly. At present, the research on resource security is still dominated by developed countries in Europe and America. This study finds that “food supply chain,” “water availability,” and “soil resources suitability” are the frontiers and hotspots in the field of resource security. Besides, “biodiversity,” “mineral resource security,” “medical and health resources” are important topics and directions of current research. This study provides a theoretical basis for scholars to explore the future research direction and practice of resource security, to achieve ecological stability and sustainable development.