Sustainability reporting scholarly research: a bibliometric review and a future research agenda

Abstract

Despite the substantial increase in sustainability reporting scholarly research, the comprehensive evaluation of scientific production in this area is scarce. This study combines the bibliometric and content analyses of sustainability reporting research to fill this gap. We map the development, conceptual structure, and thematic evolution of sustainability reporting scholarly research based on 1,053 Scopus peer-reviewed articles written by 2,071 scholars comprising 69 countries and published from 2000 to 2022. The findings suggest that sustainability reporting has witnessed exponential growth, moved from a “paucity” stage in 2000 to the “saturation” stage in 2022, and is still ongoing. The collaboration among institutions producing sustainability reporting research reflects “locally-centralized-globally-discrete” cooperation. The collaboration between developed and developing world research organizations can be termed the “North-South” divide. Authors have disciplinary or thematic similarities in their research interests (i.e., homophily impact). The study has explained the thematic categories and topics of interest in sustainability reporting. Based on our findings, we provide an agenda for future research directions. The study’s findings are of interest to scholars and practitioners in business, finance, and accounting.