Abstract Lunar exploration is a significant process to unravel the evolutionary history of the Earth-Moon system and the pivotal foundation for the exploration of the solar system. A total of 49,161 articles recorded in a comprehensive online literature database between 1959 and 2018 were reviewed to address the development of lunar science in six aspects: publication output volume, keywords, journals, authorship, collaboration, and national output efficiency. The development of lunar science experienced rise and fall corresponding to a log-linearized model that could be clearly divided into three stages: space race (1959-1977), silent stage (1978-1996) and renaissance (1997-2018). Keywords extracted from publications as reliable predictors of multidiscipline showed that the well-developed disciplines of lunar science were astronomy, space engineering, earth and planetary science, while other disciplines played important roles in different stages. Researchers had become cooperative rather than independent in publishing in the past sixty years. Countries with higher average annual GDP contributed more to the development of lunar science. The findings of this work help scholars comprehend the development of lunar science for the past, present and future.

中文翻译：

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月球科学是如何发展的？文献计量分析和系统评价

摘要 月球探测是揭示地月系统演化历史的重要过程，是探索太阳系的关键基础。对1959年至2018年间综合网络文献数据库中记录的49,161篇文章进行了审查，从出版量、关键词、期刊、作者、合作和国家产出效率六个方面来解决月球科学的发展。月球科学的发展经历了与对数线性化模型相对应的起起落落，该模型可以明确分为三个阶段：太空竞赛（1959-1977）、沉默阶段（1978-1996）和复兴（1997-2018）。从出版物中提取的作为多学科可靠预测指标的关键词表明，月球科学发展良好的学科是天文学、空间工程、地球和行星科学，而其他学科在不同阶段发挥了重要作用。在过去的 60 年里，研究人员在出版方面变得合作而不是独立。年均GDP较高的国家对月球科学发展的贡献更大。这项工作的发现有助于学者们了解过去、现在和未来月球科学的发展。