Bibliometrics and Networks: Case of Project Management and the Emergence of a Knowledge-based Discipline

Abstract

Project management (PM) has been discussed in the literature as a unique ontology but has yet to establish itself as a discipline in its own right. This study seeks to identify the true coverage of PM theory through a bibliometric analysis of the PM literature from 1996 to 2012. After considering the epistemology of PM, we employ the Louvain method to discover communities in the extensive co-citation network of the literature. We identify six persistent research themes: project time management, project risk management, program management, large-scale project management, project success/failure, and practitioner development. These differ from those presented in review and editorial articles in the literature. In addition, topics missing from the PM body of knowledge (BOK), such as knowledge management, project-based organization, and project portfolio management have become more popular topics in recent years and are expected to show an increasing trend of development in the future. We argue that the tension between PM epistemology and ontology has narrowed, and we show evidence of the start of a distinct discipline.