The evolution of SDG-related third sector and public administration literature: an analysis and call for more SDG-related research

Abstract

The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 and achieving them by 2030 is crucial for human development. However, progress on the goals currently remains short of the requirements. As the third and public sectors play a crucial role in achieving the goals, this study analyzes how the SDG-related third sector and public administration literature has evolved over the last thirty years. I use a state-of-the-art method to map articles to the SDGs. In contrast to previous studies that have found an increase in publications that directly mention the SDGs, I find a decline in the proportion of articles that relate to the SDGs without necessarily mentioning them directly. I also analyze how the SDG-relatedness of an article corresponds to its citation count. While I find mixed results across SDGs and data sources, the relationship between SDG-relatedness and citation count is significantly more positive for work published after the adoption of the SDGs. While the association between SDG-relatedness and citation count is now positive for the third sector literature published after 2015, it is still negative for the public administration literature.