A Systematic Literature Network Analysis of Existing Themes and Emerging Research Trends in Circular Economy

Fatima Khitous, Fernanda Strozzi, Andrea Urbinati and Fernando Alberti
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Fatima Khitous: School of Industrial Engineering, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy
Fernanda Strozzi: School of Industrial Engineering, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy
Andrea Urbinati: School of Industrial Engineering, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy
Fernando Alberti: Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-24

Abstract: The debate about Circular Economy (CE) has been increasingly enriched by academics through a vast array of contributions, based on several theoretical perspectives and emanating from several research domains. However, current research still falls short of providing a holistic and broader view of CE, one that combines existing themes and emerging research trends. Accordingly, based on a Systematic Literature Network Analysis, this paper tackles this gap. First, a Citation Network Analysis is used to unearth the development of the CE literature based on papers’ references, whilst the Main Path is traced to detect the seminal papers in the field through time. Second, to consider the literature in its broader extent, a Keywords Co-Occurrence Network Analysis is conducted based on papers’ keywords, whereby all papers in the dataset, including the non-cited papers, are assessed. Additionally, a Global Citation Score analysis is conducted to uncover the recent breakthrough research, in addition to the Burst Analysis used to detect the dynamic development of CE literature over time. By doing so, the paper explores the development of the CE body of knowledge, reveals its dynamic evolution over time, detects its main theoretical perspectives and research domains, and highlights its emerging topics. Our findings unfold the evidence of eight main trends of research about CE, unearth the path through which the CE concept emerged and has been growing, and concludes with promising avenues for future research.

Keywords: circular economy; bibliometric analysis; citation network; co-occurrence network; research trends; main path (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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