Past, present and future: A systematic multitechnique bibliometric review of the field of distributed work

Abstract

This review focuses on the growing field of distrubuted work, made even more relevant in light of the current pandemic. Many different definitions, labels, and conceptualizations of distributed work exist, resulting in a fragmented field, threatened by a proliferation of concepts. Prior reviews addressed a limited scope of phenomena or review approaches; are narrative, subjective, or not systematic, lacking objectivity, comprehensiveness, and reproducibility; or are not recent. Our study advances the current overview of the field by presenting a compendious review of the development and current state of the field. We implemented three bibliometric approaches (i.e., co-citation, co-word and bibliographic coupling) and interpreted the results using the “invisible colleges” framework. This produced an integrative and holistic framework of the field of distributed work, portraying its historic development and theoretical background, conceptual space, and nomological net, guiding future research on this and connected research fields.