A Bibliometric Analysis of Research on Sustainable Development Goals by the G20 Countries

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets are highly interconnected and require international collaboration. In this context, the G20 organization of 20 countries/units, founded in 1999 holds an important position being an important political and economic platform for addressing various developmental concerns. With 75% of global population, the Group Nations accounts for 85% of the global GDP and about 75% of the global trade. Considering the strength, resources and representation of these countries, they hold the major part of the responsibility towards achieving the SDGs. Scientific and technological research is a major requirement for achieving the SDGs. Given that the G20 has about 88.8% of the world’s researchers, 93.2% of research spending and produce about 90.6% of scientific publications, it would be interesting to analyse what quantum of this research is focused on achieving the SDGs. However, there are no existing studies on this aspect. This study, therefore, attempts to bridge this research gap by presenting a quantitative analysis of research on SDGs by the G20 member countries. Important patterns are identified, which can be useful for different policy perspectives.