Sound absorption as a basis for noise reduction studies: Bibliometric analysis

Tutug Bolet Atmojo; Mochamad Arief Budiharjo; Jamari Jamari; Siti Rachmawati; Seviana Rinawati; Awaluddin Hidayat Ramli Inaku; Cornelis Novianus; Tutug Bolet Atmojo; Mochamad Arief Budiharjo; Jamari Jamari; Siti Rachmawati; Seviana Rinawati; Awaluddin Hidayat Ramli Inaku; Cornelis Novianus

doi:10.3934/environsci.2026002

AIMS Environmental Science

2026, Volume 13, Issue 1: 23-38. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2026002

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Sound absorption as a basis for noise reduction studies: Bibliometric analysis

1.
Department of Doctoral Environmental Science, Faculty of Postgraduate, Diponegoro University, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
2.
Study Program of Occupational Health and Safety, Vocational School, Sebelas Maret University, Jl. Ir. Sutami No.36A Kentingan, Surakarta, Indonesia
3.
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jl. Prof. Soedharto, S.H. Tembalang, Diponegoro University, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
4.
Study Program of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, Semarang, Indonesia
5.
Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
6.
Departement of Environmental Science, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Jawa Timur, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
7.
Study Program of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. HAMKA University, South Jakarta, Indonesia

Received: 05 November 2025 Revised: 21 December 2025 Accepted: 08 January 2026 Published: 19 January 2026

Workplace noise creates negative impacts on human health; therefore, preventive and control actions are compulsory, and sound absorption is one of the ways to prevent and control noise by minimizing noise exposure through the use of sound-absorbing materials. As such, an analysis dealing with the distribution of articles on sound absorption needs to be conducted as a basis for future researchers' opportunities and interests. This study applied a bibliometric method, involving several stages: A Scopus data search stage using the keyword category "Sound and Absorption" (18,325), followed by a filtering stage for the year range 2015–2024 (8979), article type (5967), English language (5368), keyword "sound absorption" (1730), and journal type (document) (1720). The data analysis stage was conducted using the VOSviewer application (version 1.6.19) and Biblioshiny from Bibliometrix 3 with RStudio (version 4.3.1) to display bibliometric visualization maps. The results show sound absorption topics spreading in fields as material science (24.8%), physics (22.2%), engineering (22.2%), and environmental science (5.1%). China was the highest contributor, with more than 700 publications. There was an increasing trend in the number of article documents from 2015 (68) to 2024 (332). The journal with the most publications (219) and citations (4,606) was Applied Acoustics. The analysis found four clusters: Cluster 1 in red color (47 items), Cluster 2 in green color (46 items), Cluster 3 in blue color (15 items), and Cluster 4 in yellow color (10 items). Based on the analysis results, it can be concluded that sound absorption is still a current study trend that can be the basis for study opportunities in the topic of sound absorption for noise control.
- noise,
- sound absorption,
- noise reduction,
- bibliometric
Citation: Tutug Bolet Atmojo, Mochamad Arief Budiharjo, Jamari Jamari, Siti Rachmawati, Seviana Rinawati, Awaluddin Hidayat Ramli Inaku, Cornelis Novianus. Sound absorption as a basis for noise reduction studies: Bibliometric analysis[J]. AIMS Environmental Science, 2026, 13(1): 23-38. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2026002

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Abstract

Workplace noise creates negative impacts on human health; therefore, preventive and control actions are compulsory, and sound absorption is one of the ways to prevent and control noise by minimizing noise exposure through the use of sound-absorbing materials. As such, an analysis dealing with the distribution of articles on sound absorption needs to be conducted as a basis for future researchers' opportunities and interests. This study applied a bibliometric method, involving several stages: A Scopus data search stage using the keyword category "Sound and Absorption" (18,325), followed by a filtering stage for the year range 2015–2024 (8979), article type (5967), English language (5368), keyword "sound absorption" (1730), and journal type (document) (1720). The data analysis stage was conducted using the VOSviewer application (version 1.6.19) and Biblioshiny from Bibliometrix 3 with RStudio (version 4.3.1) to display bibliometric visualization maps. The results show sound absorption topics spreading in fields as material science (24.8%), physics (22.2%), engineering (22.2%), and environmental science (5.1%). China was the highest contributor, with more than 700 publications. There was an increasing trend in the number of article documents from 2015 (68) to 2024 (332). The journal with the most publications (219) and citations (4,606) was Applied Acoustics. The analysis found four clusters: Cluster 1 in red color (47 items), Cluster 2 in green color (46 items), Cluster 3 in blue color (15 items), and Cluster 4 in yellow color (10 items). Based on the analysis results, it can be concluded that sound absorption is still a current study trend that can be the basis for study opportunities in the topic of sound absorption for noise control.

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