Exploring the intellectual structure and evolution of 24 top business journals: a scientometric analysis

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a longitudinal and visualizing study using scientometric approaches to depict the historical changes in the academic community, intellectual base and research hotspots within the business domain.

Design/methodology/approach

Two mapping methods are used, namely, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis. Both the co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis in this study are conducted using CiteSpace, a Java-based scientific visualization software.

Findings

This paper detects changes in academic communities in 24 business journals chosen by the University of Texas at Dallas as leading journals (UTD24) and identifies the research hotspots such as corporate governance, organizational research and capital research. Many authors and academic communities appear in two or even three periods, which indicates the lasting academic vitality of scholars in this field. This paper determines the evolution of scholars' research interests by identifying high-frequency keywords during the entire period.

Originality/value

This paper reveals a systematic and holistic picture of the developmental landscape of the business domain, which can provide a potential guide for future research. Furthermore, based on empirical data and knowledge visualization, the intellectual structure and evolution of the business domain can be identified more objectively.

Citation

Wei, F. and Zhang, G. (2020), "Exploring the intellectual structure and evolution of 24 top business journals: a scientometric analysis", The Electronic Library, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 493-511. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-12-2019-0279