Mapping the Evolution of Sustainability Transitions Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The Sustainability Transitions (ST) research has emerged as a promising approach to addressing climate change-led uncertainty. The ST research primarily emerged and concentrated in global north countries, but the global south has witnessed significant development. A gap in the bibliometric analysis of evolution ST research and its geography is addressed. The questions are, how has ST research evolved over the years (1994 to 2021), and how has ST research evolution reflected the dynamics of geographies? The ST literature is examined from the Scopus citation database (from 1994 to 2021). Results suggest that the ST research evolved in the Lag phase (1994 to 2002) and growth phase (2002 to 2021) as an S curve in Science Policy studies. The western geography of Europe is the origin and significant contributor to the location of authors, collaboration, and receiving the highest citation of publications. China, Brazil, India and South Africa are major non-OECD leading countries in ST research. The Dutch ST research has witnessed the highest impact. Most of the journals on ST research are published in the UK, out top 20 journals in the world. The research support and more numbers of researchers have led to the dominance of European countries in ST research. Finally, the study suggests that global sustainability issues necessitate an inclusive and diverse approach to ST research, incorporating knowledge from the global south.