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Major trends in knowledge management research: a bibliometric study

Author

Listed:
  • Peyman Akhavan

    (Malek Ashtar University of Technology)

  • Nader Ale Ebrahim

    (University of Malaya)

  • Mahdieh A. Fetrati

    (Aalborg University)

  • Amir Pezeshkan

    (University of Baltimore)

Abstract

This study provides an overview of the knowledge management literature from 1980 through 2014. We employ bibliometric and text mining analyses on a sample of 500 most cited articles to examine the impact of factors such as number of authors, references, pages, and keywords on the number of citations that they received. We also investigate major trends in knowledge management literature including the contribution of different countries, variations across publication years, and identifying active research areas and major journal outlets. Our study serves as a resource for future studies by shedding light on how trends in knowledge management research have evolved over time and demonstrating the characteristics of the most cited articles in this literature. Specifically, our results reveal that the most cited articles are from United States and United Kingdom. The most prolific year in terms of the number of published articles is 2009 and in terms of the number of citations is 2012. We also found a positive relationship between the number of publications’ keywords, references, and pages and the number of citations that they have received. Finally, the Journal of Knowledge Management has the largest share in publishing the most cited articles in this field.

Suggested Citation

  • Peyman Akhavan & Nader Ale Ebrahim & Mahdieh A. Fetrati & Amir Pezeshkan, 2016. "Major trends in knowledge management research: a bibliometric study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(3), pages 1249-1264, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:107:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-016-1938-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-1938-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gaviria-Marin, Magaly & Merigó, José M. & Baier-Fuentes, Hugo, 2019. "Knowledge management: A global examination based on bibliometric analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 194-220.
    2. Bibi Alajmi & Talal Alhaji, 2018. "Mapping the Field of Knowledge Management: Bibliometric and Content Analysis of Journal of Information & Knowledge Management for the Period from 2002–2016," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(03), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Maryam Philsoophian & Peyman Akhavan & Morteza Abbasi, 2021. "Strategic Alliance for Resilience in Supply Chain: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-25, November.
    4. Albertina Paula Monteiro & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán & María Garrido-Ruso & Cristina Aibar-Guzmán, 2021. "Employee-Related Disclosure: A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-38, May.
    5. Entang Adhy Muhtar & Budiman Rusli & Nina Karlina & Candradewini Candradewini & Riki Satia Muharam, 2021. "Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Energy Economics and Policy in Scopus from 2010 to 2021," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(6), pages 503-507.
    6. Peng Wang & Fang-Wei Zhu & Hao-Yang Song & Jian-Hua Hou & Jin-Lan Zhang, 2018. "Visualizing the Academic Discipline of Knowledge Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-28, March.
    7. Delio I. Castaneda & Sergio Cuellar, 2021. "Knowledge Sharing in Business Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, March.
    8. Aurora Martínez-Martínez & Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro & Manuel-Jesús Cobo & Tiphaine Valon, 2023. "Impacts and Implications for Advancing in Environmental Knowledge in Hospitality Industry in COVID Society: a Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 2026-2053, June.
    9. Sergio Ochoa Jiménez & Alma Rocío García García & Sacnicté Valdez del Río & Carlos Armando Jacobo Hernández, 2022. "Entrepreneurship in Tourism Studies in the 21st Century: A Bibliometric Study of Wos and Scopus," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    10. Ojeda-Pereira, Iván & Campos-Medina, Fernando, 2021. "International trends in mining tailings publications: A descriptive bibliometric study," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    11. JingJing Zhang & Jiancheng Guan, 2017. "Scientific relatedness and intellectual base: a citation analysis of un-cited and highly-cited papers in the solar energy field," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(1), pages 141-162, January.
    12. Carlos Luis González-Valiente & Magda León Santos & Ricardo Arencibia-Jorge, 2019. "Evolution of the Socio-cognitive Structure of Knowledge Management (1986-2015): An Author Co-citation Analysis," Post-Print hal-02075738, HAL.
    13. Yaowu Sun & Yi Zhai, 2018. "Mapping the knowledge domain and the theme evolution of appropriability research between 1986 and 2016: a scientometric review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 203-230, July.
    14. Babak Sohrabi & Iman Raeesi Vanani & Seyed Mohammad Jafar Jalali & Ehsan Abedin, 2020. "Evaluation of Research Trends in Knowledge Management: A Hybrid Analysis through Burst Detection and Text Clustering," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(04), pages 1-27, January.
    15. Fetrati, Mahdieh A. & Hansen, David & Akhavan, Payman, 2022. "How to manage creativity in organizations: Connecting the literature on organizational creativity through bibliometric research," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

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