Mapping intellectual structures and research trends of translation studies: a bibliometric analysis from 2007 to 2021

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article reports on the intellectual structures and research trends in the field of Translation Studies (TS). Co-citation analysis and keyword analysis were conducted based on research articles in eleven prestigious TS journals indexed in Web of Science-Social Science Citation Index (WoS-SSCI) database from 2007 to 2021. In general, results indicate that TS has continued to flourish over the examined 15 years, evidenced by annual research outputs, number of publications per journal, countries/regions active in TS, as well as institutions and authors producing TS research. Meanwhile, the co-citation analysis not only unveils the intellectual structures that constitute TS, but also maps several relatively clear-cut research sub-areas within TS. Furthermore, a diachronic and comparative analysis of high-frequency keywords reveals that the thematic landscape of TS has undergone profound changes, with some early-dominant topics or concepts gradually losing their initial appeal; while a series of newly developed or borrowed concepts, methods and issues have gained increased popularity. The data confirms the multidisciplinary nature and continuous ‘paradigm shifts’ of TS. Based on these results, we discuss the achievements that TS has made as well as its drawbacks, before reflecting on the implications of the analysis for the direction of future research.