Progress and Prospects of Research on the Impact of Forest Therapy on Mental Health: A Bibliometric Analysis
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear authors, thank you for the opportunity to study your work.
The manuscript outlines an original approach to analyzing publication activity in the field of the therapeutic effect of forest therapy on mental health.
The introduction reveals the relevance of the study and defines the purpose of the study.
The authors set out in detail the procedure for bibliometric analysis, which allows us to judge the high validity and reliability of the results obtained.
The authors presented the results of their bibliometric analysis as illustratively as possible in 13 figures and 1 table.
There are a number of comments:
1. The presentation contains a large amount of data in the figures, not all of which are critical, discussed in the Discussion of Results section and reflected in the conclusions. This makes the article very difficult to read. It is proposed that some of the drawings be included in the Appendix to the article.
2. When presenting the results, the content of scientific research is not sufficiently reflected. Lots of numbers, but little specificity. for example, three stages in the development of these studies are identified. But no information is provided about what these studies are about or how detailed it has been studied.
3. The discussion of the results also does not contain explanations regarding the content of the results, and there is no proper reference to the authors’ research in order to get a complete impression of how well the issue has been studied and the prospects for its further study.
The conclusion is very general and does not reflect the actual results obtained.
Therefore, the manuscript requires revision.
Best wishes, reviewer
Author Response
Please refer to the attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article submitted for review is a very valuable publication. The issue of the impact of forests on human health has been widely discussed for several years now. While reading the literature in this field, one could notice the existence of several research centers which, unfortunately, do not cooperate with each other. The article showed such a thing, which would obviously be beneficial for science. The authors correctly defined the purpose of the work and the method of achieving the goal. The description of the results is correct, only Figures 4 and 12 are difficult to interpret independently. The authors also correctly interpreted the research results. I lacked an in-depth analysis of the research topic and the results achieved, but I realize that it is a different methodology.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThank you for the opportunity to read your paper. I have enjoyed reading it.
In general, this is a good Paper. Some clarifications are needed and English needs to be thoroughly revised.
Detailed comments are on the attached pdf
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
English needs to be reviewed and revised thoroughly!
Author Response
Please refer to the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI have reviewed of the manuscript titled “The Therapeutic Impact of Forest Therapy on Mental Health research progress and prospect: A Bibliometric Analysis”. This study aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis to assess global research on the therapeutic impact of therapy on mental health.
My observations are as follows:
Major observations
1. Generally, the manuscript was prepared in a technically correct way.
2. Nevertheless, there is one major shortcoming related to the lack of clarity of pathway as to how forest therapy can affect people's mental health. For example, when practicing in forested areas, the obtained protective health benefit may be higher as many plant species release biogenic volatile compounds, which, following inhalation, can give many protective properties. Nevertheless, not all trees are emitters of useful biogenic volatile compounds such as terpenes like α-pinene, β-pinene, α-phellandrene, β-terpinene, 1,8-cineol, camphene and D-limonene.
3. The aforesaid characteristic is abundant for trees, namely, balsam poplars and white pines. Furthermore, whereas the authors have set out the essential study aim related to the therapeutic impact of forest therapy on mental health, biogenic volatile compounds (in terms of specific concentrations) released by specific forest trees in Japan and Korea as well as their association with mental health outcome must be further reviewed in this manuscript.
Minor observations
4. Lines 50-67: I recommend that this information could be transferred to the methodology section.
5. The Abstract should be enhanced.
6. Keywords must be revised in alphabetical order.
7. Citation of references should be tailored to the recommendations of the MDPI in-house.
Kind Regards
Author Response
Please refer to the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear authors, thank you for the additions and changes to the text of the manuscript. The comments have been corrected.
The article can be recommended for publication.
With best wishes, reviewer
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThank you for making all the requested edits and addressing all my comments. I am happy with the way the paper reads now ..... just a few minor comments and grammatical issues still remain.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
English is much improved, however a few minor issues still remain
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe Authors improved an article.
I suggest to accept the paper in present form.
Best regards
