Mapping Global Research on Sustainability and SDGs in Chemistry Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33541/edumatsains.v10i1.7158Keywords:
SDGs, Chemistry Education, Green Chemistry, Higher Education, BibliometricAbstract
This paper examines how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been brought into university-level chemistry education worldwide. Using a blend of bibliometric and systematic review methods, we analyzed 564 publications from Scopus and Web of Science (2001–June 2025), along with a closer look at 17 influential papers. Over the past twenty years, there’s been a clear uptick in studies on this topic, largely shaped by global education policies and sustainability initiatives. The United States, Canada, China, and the UK stood out as the most active contributors. Our findings reveal that green chemistry, systems thinking, and hands-on learning are key themes. Different teaching approaches, like problem-based and authentic learning, have helped improve students’ understanding of concepts, awareness of sustainability, and ethical outlook. Still, gaps remain, especially in how these ideas play out across cultures, their long-term effects, and how fully SDGs are woven into various chemistry programs. These insights point to the important role chemistry education can play in preparing graduates who are both scientifically grounded and ethically mindful. Looking ahead, future studies might benefit from broader data, longer-term designs, and cross-disciplinary efforts to keep pushing sustainable chemistry education forward.
References
Akerlof, K. L., Timm, K. M., Rowan, K. E., Olds, J. L., & Hathaway, J. (2022). The growth and disciplinary convergence of environmental communication: A bibliometric analysis of the field (1970–2019). Frontiers in Environmental Science, 9, 814599. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.814599
Alejandro-Cruz, J. S., Rio-Belver, R. M., Almanza-Arjona, Y. C., & Rodriguez-Andara, A. (2019). Towards a Science Map on Sustainability in Higher Education. Sustainability, 11(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133521
Alhazmi, A., & Almashhour, R. A. (2025). Eco-pedagogy in chemistry education: challenging market-driven policies. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-06-2024-0373
Anastas, P. T., & Zimmerman, J. B. (2018). The United Nations sustainability goals: How can sustainable chemistry contribute? Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 13, 150–153. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2018.04.017
Aria, M., & Cuccurullo, C. (2017). bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. Journal of Informetrics, 11(4), 959–975. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.08.007
Aubrecht, K. B., Bourgeois, M., Brush, E. J., Mackellar, J., & Wissinger, J. E. (2019). Integrating Green Chemistry in the Curriculum: Building Student Skills in Systems Thinking, Safety, and Sustainability. Journal of Chemical Education, 96(12), 2872 – 2880. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00354
Bhatnagar, S., & Sharma, D. (2022). Evolution of green finance and its enablers: A bibliometric analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 162, 112405. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112405
Borges, F. (2019). Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Concerning Sustainable Development: a Study among Prospective Elementary Teachers. Higher Education Studies, 9(2), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v9n2p22
Bornmann, L., & Daniel, H. (2008). What do citation counts measure? A review of studies on citing behavior. Journal of Documentation, 64(1), 45–80. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410810844150
Bornmann, L., Mutz, R., & Daniel, H. (2008). Are there better indices for evaluation purposes than the h index? A comparison of nine different variants of the h index using data from biomedicine. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(5), 830–837. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20806
Breen, R., Goggin, C., Holmes, J. D., & Collins, G. (2025). A Collaborative Cocurricular Undergraduate Research Experience on Sustainable Materials: Analysis of Biochar Using the Boehm Titration and Spectroscopic Techniques. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION, 102(3), 1323–1332. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01110
Burmeister, M., Schmidt-Jacob, S., & Eilks, I. (2013). German chemistry teachers’ understanding of sustainability and education for sustainable development—An interview case study. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 14(2), 169–176.
Chen, A. Z., Peeks, M. D., & Kyne, S. H. (2025). Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Authentic Learning Activities to Introduce Chemistry Students to Systems Thinking through Green Chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 102(6), 2283 – 2293. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01326
Chen, M., Jeronen, E., & Wang, A. (2020). What lies behind teaching and learning green chemistry to promote sustainability education? A literature review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 7876. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217876
Côrtes, P. L., & Rodrigues, R. (2016). A bibliometric study on “education for sustainability.” Brazilian Journal of Science and Technology, 3(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40552-016-0016-5
Dominković, D. F., Weinand, J. M., Scheller, F., D’Andrea, M., & McKenna, R. (2022). Reviewing two decades of energy system analysis with bibliometrics. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 153, 111749. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111749
Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070
Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Paul, J., Pattnaik, D., & Strong, C. (2022). A retrospective of the Journal of Strategic Marketing from 1993 to 2019 using bibliometric analysis. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 30(3), 239–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2020.1794937
Echchakoui, S. (2020). Why and how to merge Scopus and Web of Science during bibliometric analysis: the case of sales force literature from 1912 to 2019. Journal of Marketing Analytics, 8(3), 165–184. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-020-00081-9
Egghe, L. (2006). Theory and practise of the g-index. Scientometrics, 69(1), 131–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-006-0144-7
Eilks, I. (2015). Science education and education for sustainable development - justifications, models, practices and perspectives. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(1), 149 – 158. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1313a
Filho, L. W., Manolas, E., & Pace, P. (2015). The future we want: : Key issues on sustainable development in higher education after Rio and the UN decade of education for sustainable development. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 16(1), 112–129. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-03-2014-0036
Filho, L. W., Salvia, A. L., Frankenberger, F., Akib, N. A. M., Sen, S. K., Sivapalan, S., Novo-Corti, I., Venkatesan, M., & Emblen-Perry, K. (2021). Governance and sustainable development at higher education institutions. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(4), 6002–6020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00859-y
Garfield, E. (2006). The history and meaning of the journal impact factor. JAMA, 295(1), 90–93. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.295.1.90
Gaviria-Marin, M., Merigó, J. M., & Baier-Fuentes, H. (2019). Knowledge management: A global examination based on bibliometric analysis. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 140, 194–220. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.006
Ghorbani, B. D. (2024). Bibliometrix: Science Mapping Analysis with R Biblioshiny Based on Web of Science in Applied Linguistics. In H. Meihami & R. Esfandiari (Eds.), A Scientometrics Research Perspective in Applied Linguistics (pp. 197–234). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51726-6_8
Gorski, A.-T., Ranf, E.-D., Badea, D., Halmaghi, E.-E., & Gorski, H. (2023). Education for Sustainability—Some Bibliometric Insights. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(20). https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014916
Graham, K. J., Jones, T. N., Schaller, C. P., & McIntee, E. J. (2014). Implementing a Student-Designed Green Chemistry Laboratory Project in Organic Chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 91(11), 1895–1900. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed5000394
Gunbatar, S. A., Kiran, B. E., Boz, Y., & Oztay, E. S. (2025). A systematic review of green and sustainable chemistry training research with pedagogical content knowledge framework: current trends and future directions. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 26(1), 34 – 52. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4rp00166d
Guo, C., Huang, Y., & Chen, X. (2024). Research on Integration of the Sustainable Development Goals and Teaching Practices in a Future Teacher Science Education Course. Sustainability, 16(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16124982
Haack, J. A., & Hutchison, J. E. (2016). Green chemistry education: 25 years of progress and 25 years ahead. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 4(11), 5889 – 5896. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b02069
Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 1, 102(46), 16569–16572. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0507655102
Jabeen, S., Malik, S., Khan, S., Khan, N., Qureshi, M. I., & Saad, M. S. M. (2021). A comparative systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis on sustainability of renewable energy sources. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 11(1), 270–280. https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.10759
Kennedy, S. A. (2016). Design of a Dynamic Undergraduate Green Chemistry Course. Journal of Chemical Education, 93(4), 645 – 649. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00432
Lai, W., & Li, B. (2025). A Green Synthesis of Pyrrole Derivative and Green Chemistry Learning for Beginners in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Curriculum. Journal of Chemical Education, 102(2), 760 – 764. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00863
Linnenluecke, M. K., Marrone, M., & Singh, A. K. (2020). Conducting systematic literature reviews and bibliometric analyses. Australian Journal of Management, 45(2), 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896219877678
Liu, Y., & Avello, M. (2021). Status of the research in fitness apps: A bibliometric analysis. Telematics and Informatics, 57, 101506. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101506
Lozano, R., & Watson, M. K. (2013). Chemistry education for sustainability: Assessing the chemistry curricula at Cardiff University; [Educación química para la Sustentabilidad. evaluación del currículo de química en la universidad de cardiff]. Educacion Quimica, 24(2), 184 – 192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0187-893X(13)72461-3
Mahaffy, P. G., & Elgersma, A. K. (2022). Systems thinking, the molecular basis of sustainability and the planetary boundaries framework: Complementary core competencies for chemistry education. Current Opinion In Green And Sustainable Chemistry, 37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100663
Mahaffy, P. G., Holme, T. A., Martin-Visscher, L., Martin, B. E., Versprille, A., Kirchhoff, M., McKenzie, L., & Towns, M. (2017). Beyond “inert” Ideas to Teaching General Chemistry from Rich Contexts: Visualizing the Chemistry of Climate Change (VC3). Journal of Chemical Education, 94(8), 1027 – 1035. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b01009
Mahaffy, P. G., Matlin, S. A., Whalen, J. M., & Holme, T. A. (2019). Integrating the Molecular Basis of Sustainability into General Chemistry through Systems Thinking. Journal of Chemical Education, 96(12), 2730 – 2741. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00390
Maryanti, R., Rahayu, N. I., Muktiarni, M., Husaeni, D. F. Al, Hufad, A., Sunardi, S., & Nandiyanto, A. B. D. (2022). Sustainable development goals (SDGs) in science education: Definition, literature review, and bibliometric analysis. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 17(6), 161–181.
Mercer, S. M., Andraos, J., & Jessop, P. G. (2012). Choosing the greenest synthesis: A multivariate metric green chemistry exercise. Journal of Chemical Education, 89(2), 215 – 220. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed200249v
Mitarlis, Azizah, U., & Yonata, B. (2023). The Integration of Green Chemistry Principles in Basic Chemistry Learning to Support Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Education. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 13(1), 233 – 254. https://doi.org/10.3926/jotse.1892
Molina, Á. A., Helldén, D., Alfvén, T., Niemi, M., Leander, K., Nordenstedt, H., Rehn, C., Ndejjo, R., Wanyenze, R., & Biermann, O. (2023). Integrating the United Nations sustainable development goals into higher education globally: a scoping review. Global Health Action, 16(1), 2190649. https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2023.2190649
Mongeon, P., & Paul-Hus, A. (2016). The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a comparative analysis. Scientometrics, 106(1), 213–228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1765-5
Ogodo, U. P., & Abosede, O. O. (2025). The role of chemistry in achieving sustainable development goals: Green chemistry perspective. International Research Journal of Pure and Applied Chemistry, 26(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.9734/irjpac/2025/v26i1893
Płotka-Wasylka, J., Kurowska-Susdorf, A., Sajid, M., de la Guardia, M., Namieśnik, J., & Tobiszewski, M. (2018). Green Chemistry in Higher Education: State of the Art, Challenges, and Future Trends. ChemSusChem, 11(17), 2845 – 2858. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201801109
Qin, Y., Xu, Z., Wang, X., & Škare, M. (2022). Green energy adoption and its determinants: A bibliometric analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 153, 111780. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111780
Quiroz-Martinez, D. (2024). Chemistry teachers’ perspectives and understanding in integrating sustainability into teaching: the case of Chile. Environmental Education Research, 30(3), 432–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2023.2193688
Reynders, M., Pilcher, L., & Potgieter, M. (2025). Development of Systems Thinking in a Large First-Year Chemistry Course Using a Group Activity on Detergents. Journal of Chemical Education, 102(4), 1352 – 1366. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01048
Romo-Fernández, L. M., Guerrero-Bote, V. P., & Moya-Anegón, F. (2013). Co-word based thematic analysis of renewable energy (1990–2010). Scientometrics, 97(3), 743–765. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1009-5
Salsabila, S. A., & Hernani, H. (2025). Trends in Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into Chemistry Education. JTK (Jurnal Tadris Kimiya), 10(1), 45–59. https://doi.org/10.15575/jtk.v10i1.44007
Sánchez, A. D., de la Cruz Del Río Rama, M., & García, J. Á. (2017). Bibliometric analysis of publications on wine tourism in the databases Scopus and WoS. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 23(1), 8–15. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2016.02.001
Sánchez Morales, R., Sáenz-López, P., & de las Heras Perez, M. A. (2024). Green Chemistry and Its Impact on the Transition towards Sustainable Chemistry: A Systematic Review. In Sustainability (Vol. 16, Issue 15). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156526
Sharif, S. P., Mura, P., & Wijesinghe, S. N. R. (2019). Systematic Reviews in Asia: Introducing the “PRISMA” Protocol to Tourism and Hospitality Scholars BT - Quantitative Tourism Research in Asia: Current Status and Future Directions (S. Rezaei (ed.); pp. 13–33). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2463-5_2
Sharma, R. K., Gulati, S., & Mehta, S. (2012). Preparation of gold nanoparticles using tea: A green chemistry experiment. Journal of Chemical Education, 89(10), 1316 – 1318. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed2002175
Sjostrom, J., Eilks, I., & Zuin, V. G. (2016). Towards Eco-reflexive Science Education A Critical Reflection About Educational Implications of Green Chemistry. Science & Education, 25(3–4), 321–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-016-9818-6
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
UNDP. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goals, Background on the Goals. https://www.undp.org/sdg-accelerator/background-goals
Vaz, C. R. S., Morais, C., Pastre, J. C., & Júnior, G. G. (2025). Teaching Green Chemistry in Higher Education: Contributions of a Problem-Based Learning Proposal for Understanding the Principles of Green Chemistry. Sustainability (Switzerland), 17(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/su17052004
Wang, H., & Surif. (2024). Global Trends and Influences in Green Chemistry Education: A Comprehensive Review of Contributions (2014-2024). International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 13(4), 2281–2291. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v13-i4/23819
Widyantoro, C., Han, J. Y., Ong, J. S. H., Goh, K. H., & Fung, F. M. (2025). Teaching Sustainability through Green Chemistry: An Experiential Learning Approach. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01476
Yang, H., Hou, J., Hu, Q., & Wang, P. (2024). Exploring the Citation Lag in LIS: Trends and Correlations BT - Wisdom, Well-Being, Win-Win (I. Sserwanga, H. Joho, J. Ma, P. Hansen, D. Wu, M. Koizumi, & A. J. Gilliland (eds.); pp. 376–391). Springer Nature Switzerland.
Yao, X., Xu, Z., Wang, X., Wang, L., & Škare, M. (2024). Energy efficiency and COVID-19: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis on economic effects. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 30(1), 287–311. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2023.18726
Zhang, J., Yu, Q., Zheng, F., Long, C., Lu, Z., & Duan, Z. (2016). Comparing keywords plus of WOS and author keywords: A case study of patient adherence research. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 67(4), 967–972. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23437
Zowada, C., Niebert, K., & Eilks, I. (2022). Perspectives on education for sustainability in chemistry teaching. Química Nova Na Escola, 44(2), 222–228. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-232577
Zuin, V. G., Eilks, I., Elschami, M., & Kümmerer, K. (2021). Education in green chemistry and in sustainable chemistry: perspectives towards sustainability. Green Chemistry, 23(4), 1594–1608. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0GC03313H
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mellyzar, Marhami, Sirry Alvina, Sri Rahayu Retnowulan

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.