An ITO (composite oxide mainly containing indium oxide and tin oxide: In<sb>2</sb>O<sb>3</sb>−SnO<sb>2</sb>) sputtering target produced by sintering a mixture powder such that the mixture content x of a tin oxide powder is 9.5 ≤ x ≤ 10.5(wt%) and the balance is a indium oxide powder. The target with few nodules is characterized in that the dissolution residue y (wtppm) of when the target is dissolved in aqua regia and the solution is filtered with a 0.2−µm filter is y ≤ e<sp>(2.03x−20.3)</sp>. In a sputtering process for forming a transparent electrode film while maintaining a good visible−light transmittance and a high conductivity, a sintered−body target with high density and with few nodules produced is efficiently manufactured while suppressing the degradation of the productivity and degradation of the quality due to produced nodules.
