Mapping the Landscape of Sustainability Reporting: A Bibliometric Analysis Across ESG, Circular Economy, and Integrated Reporting with Sectoral Perspectives

Radosveta Krasteva-Hristova (), Diana Papradanova and Ventsislav Vechev
Additional contact information
Radosveta Krasteva-Hristova: Department of Accounting, Tsenov Academy of Economics, 5250 Svishtov, Bulgaria
Diana Papradanova: Department of Accounting, Tsenov Academy of Economics, 5250 Svishtov, Bulgaria
Ventsislav Vechev: Department of Accounting, Tsenov Academy of Economics, 5250 Svishtov, Bulgaria

JRFM, 2025, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-31

Abstract: Sustainability reporting has evolved into a multidimensional field encompassing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure, integrated reporting (IR), and circular economy (CE) practices. This study aims to map the intellectual and thematic landscape of sustainability reporting research over the past decade, with a focus on sectoral differentiation. Drawing on bibliometric analysis of 1611 scientific articles indexed in Scopus, this research applies co-word analysis, thematic mapping, and bibliographic coupling to identify prevailing trends, conceptual clusters, and knowledge gaps. The results reveal a clear progression from fragmented debates toward a more integrated discourse combining ESG, IR, and CE frameworks. In the real economy, sustainability reporting demonstrates a mature operational focus, supported by standardized frameworks and extensive empirical evidence. In contrast, the banking sector exhibits emerging engagement with sustainability disclosure, while the public sector remains at an earlier stage of conceptual and practical development. Despite the increasing convergence of research streams, gaps persist in linking reporting practices to tangible sustainability outcomes, integrating digital innovations, and addressing social dimensions of circularity. This study concludes that further interdisciplinary and sector-specific research is essential to advance credible, comparable, and decision-useful reporting practices capable of supporting the transition toward sustainable and circular business models.

Keywords: ESG reporting; integrated reporting; circular economy; sectoral analysis; bibliometric mapping; financial sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/8/416/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/8/416/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:8:p:416-:d:1711328

Access Statistics for this article

JRFM is currently edited by Ms. Chelthy Cheng

More articles in JRFM from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().