This study was designed to evaluate the global scientifc output of desalination research to assess the characteristics of the research tendencies and the research performances. Data were based on the online version of Science Citation Index, Web of Science from 1991 to 2008. Two main respects of the paper characteristics, performance of publication and research tendency, were analyzed. Performances of publications were assessed including document type, language, subject categories, journals, institutes, and countries. Research tendency was investigated by statistically analyzing the distribution of word in article title, author keyword, and keyword plus in diferent periods. Results show the desalination research mainly performed on subject category of chemical engineering. More specifc, research might focus on membranes related research.
