Fifteen years of the Social Responsibility Journal: a retrospective using bibliometric analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe Social Responsibility Journal (SRJ) celebrates 15 years of publication in 2019. The purpose of this study is to map the development in the publication, citation and themes of SRJ articles between 2005 and 2019.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the Scopus database to analyze the highest contributing authors, institutions and countries published in SRJ. It also identifies the most cited SRJ articles, journals citing SRJ and journals cited by SRJ. This study conducts a performance analysis using bibliometric indicators to analyze the publication and citation structure of SRJ, in addition to science mapping using bibliographic coupling to analyze the themes of SRJ. Further, this study provides a temporal analysis of SRJ publishing across three different time periods over its 15-year run.FindingsFrom 2005 to 2019, SRJ increased its annual publication from 23 to 63 articles. The citations have followed a similar trend, with an increase from zero citations in 2005 to more than 1,200 citations in 2019. Authors from all around the world have contributed to the journal on themes like business ethics, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, firm outcomes and stakeholders. Attention to themes related to corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and their influence on firm outcomes has increased across different time periods, while themes related to business ethics and stakeholders have garnered continuous – if not increasing – attention across different time periods.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to data acquired from the Scopus database.Originality/valueThis study provides the first overview of SRJ’s publication and citation trends alongside its thematic structure.