---
title: "SDG 15 Life on land: research papers"
description: "From 2017 to 2026 (so far), SDG 15 (Life on land) was addressed by 4,401 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in economics (3,759), tourism and hospitality (246) and operations research (98). It is #14 of the 17 goals by papers from 2023 to 2025 (1,229)."
url: https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/15-life-on-land
markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/15-life-on-land.md
license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
share_text: "From 2017 to 2026 (so far), SDG 15 (Life on land) was addressed by 4,401 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in economics (3,759), tourism and hospitality (246) and operations research (98). (as of 2026-10-31)"
data_url: https://scholar4ai.com/data/rankings.json
updated: 2026-10-31T17:45:59+09:00
window: 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-31
source: OpenAlex (CC0)
---

# SDG 15: Life on land

Papers in the tracked journals on UN Sustainable Development Goal 15, Life on land. OpenAlex assigns a paper to each UN Sustainable Development Goal that its classifier scores above 0.4 from the paper's text; a paper can belong to several goals or to none.

All 17 goals: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/sdgs.md

## Key findings

- From 2017 to 2026 (so far), SDG 15 (Life on land) was addressed by 4,401 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in economics (3,759), tourism and hospitality (246) and operations research (98).
- It is #14 of the 17 goals by papers from 2023 to 2025 (1,229).
- 436 of them were published in 2025, against 472 in 2017.
- Since 2023, the institutions with the most of these papers were Chinese Academy of Sciences (72), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (42) and Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (34).
- The journals publishing most of them were Land Use Policy (642), Ecological Economics (243) and Resources Policy (94).
- The most-cited of them is “Ecological-economic trade-offs of Diversified Farming Systems – A review” (Ecological Economics, 2019), with 396 citations.

## Papers per year

*Papers per publication year and category*

| Category | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (so far) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| [Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/economics.md) | 442 | 472 | 391 | 414 | 380 | 369 | 345 | 304 | 312 | 330 |
| [Tourism and Hospitality](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/tourism-and-hospitality.md) | 16 | 23 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 32 | 26 |
| [Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/operations-research.md) | 8 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 23 | 11 |
| [AI](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/ai.md) | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 14 |
| [Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/finance.md) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 36 | 32 |
| [Management](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/management.md) | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 15 |
| [Statistics](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/statistics.md) | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| [Higher Education and Research](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/higher-education-and-research.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| [Accounting](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/accounting.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| [Health Economics and Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/health-economics-and-policy.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| [Marketing](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/marketing.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| [Information Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/information-systems.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| All categories | 472 | 507 | 433 | 458 | 432 | 432 | 411 | 382 | 436 | 438 |

## Where the papers come from

*Journals with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Journal | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | [Land Use Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/land-use-policy.md) | 642 |
| 2 | [Ecological Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ecological-economics.md) | 243 |
| 3 | [Resources Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/resources-policy.md) | 94 |
| 4 | [Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-outdoor-recreation-and-tourism.md) | 92 |
| 5 | [World Development](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/world-development.md) | 76 |
| 6 | [Journal of Environmental Economics and Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-environmental-economics-and-management.md) | 50 |
| 7 | [Environmental and Resource Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/environmental-and-resource-economics.md) | 35 |
| 8 | [Expert Systems with Applications](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/expert-systems-with-applications.md) | 30 |
| 9 | [Finance research letters](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/finance-research-letters.md) | 28 |
| 10 | [Agricultural and Food Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/agricultural-and-food-economics.md) | 18 |

*Institutions with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Institution | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | [Chinese Academy of Sciences](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/chinese-academy-of-sciences.md) | 72 |
| 2 | [University of Chinese Academy of Sciences](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/university-of-chinese-academy-of-sciences.md) | 42 |
| 3 | Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research | 34 |
| 4 | Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement | 32 |
| 5 | [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/centre-national-de-la-recherche-scientifique.md) | 31 |
| 6 | Wageningen University & Research | 30 |
| 7 | [Renmin University of China](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/renmin-university-of-china.md) | 27 |
| 8 | [Peking University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/peking-university.md) | 26 |
| 9 | Universidade de São Paulo | 23 |
| 10 | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | 22 |

*Countries with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Country | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | China | 435 |
| 2 | United States | 296 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 163 |
| 4 | Germany | 159 |
| 5 | France | 95 |
| 6 | Brazil | 89 |
| 7 | Australia | 85 |
| 8 | Italy | 85 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 78 |
| 10 | Spain | 70 |

*Keywords with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Keyword | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | deforestation | 140 |
| 2 | land use change | 133 |
| 3 | ecosystem services | 119 |
| 4 | [China](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/china.md) | 98 |
| 5 | biodiversity conservation | 91 |
| 6 | protected areas | 75 |
| 7 | biodiversity loss | 55 |
| 8 | food security | 55 |
| 9 | environmental degradation | 54 |
| 10 | urbanization | 51 |

## Most-cited papers

*Most-cited papers since 2017*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 396 | 4.3 | [Ecological-economic trade-offs of Diversified Farming Systems – A review](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.03.002) | [Ecological Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ecological-economics.md) | 2019-03-20 | Julia Rosa-Schleich, Jacqueline Loos, Oliver Mußhoff et al. |
| 2 | 378 | 4.5 | [Stakeholder collaboration as a major factor for sustainable ecotourism development in developing countries](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104024) | [Tourism Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/tourism-management.md) | 2019-11-27 | Amare Nega Wondirad, Denis Tolkach, Brian E. M. King |
| 3 | 328 | 4.0 | [Provincial cultivated land use efficiency in China: Empirical analysis based on the SBM-DEA model with carbon emissions considered](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119874) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2019-12-17 | Bing Kuang, Xinhai Lu, Min Zhou et al. |
| 4 | 237 | 2.8 | [Government corruption, resource misallocation, and ecological efficiency](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2019.104573) | [Energy Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-economics.md) | 2019-11-06 | Shuhong Wang, Danqing Zhao, Hanxue Chen |
| 5 | 231 | 2.1 | [The Expansion of Modern Agriculture and Global Biodiversity Decline: An Integrated Assessment](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.07.018) | [Ecological Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ecological-economics.md) | 2017-08-29 | Bruno Lanz, Simon Dietz, Timothy M. Swanson |
| 6 | 229 | 2.5 | [Trade-offs in land-use competition and sustainable land development in the North China Plain](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.01.004) | [Technological Forecasting and Social Change](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/technological-forecasting-and-social-change.md) | 2019-01-30 | Gui Jin, Kun Chen, Pei Wang et al. |
| 7 | 229 | 3.9 | [Ecosystem types: A systematic review on boundaries and goals](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.046) | [Journal of Business Research](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-research.md) | 2021-12-30 | Dieudonnee Cobben, Ward Ooms, Nadine Roijakkers et al. |
| 8 | 226 | 3.2 | [The importance of species diversity for human well-being in Europe](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106917) | [Ecological Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ecological-economics.md) | 2020-11-28 | Joel Methorst, Katrin Rehdanz A, Thomas Mueller et al. |
| 9 | 219 | 2.3 | [Conservation agriculture and climate resilience](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2018.11.008) | [Journal of Environmental Economics and Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-environmental-economics-and-management.md) | 2018-12-01 | Jeffrey D. Michler, Kathy Baylis, Mary Paula Arends-Kuenning et al. |
| 10 | 219 | 2.6 | [Understanding farmers' reluctance to reduce pesticide use: A choice experiment](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.06.004) | [Ecological Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ecological-economics.md) | 2019-09-10 | Benoît Chèze, Maïa David, Vincent Martinet |

## Cite this page

Scholar4AI. (2026). SDG 15: Life on land. Journal Research Rankings. Retrieved October 31, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/15-life-on-land

```bibtex
@misc{scholar4ai-sdgs-15-life-on-land,
  author = {{Scholar4AI}},
  title = {SDG 15: Life on land},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/15-life-on-land}},
  urldate = {2026-10-31},
  note = {Journal Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
```

License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).