Title: Governance in non-profit organisations: a plural or ambiguous research field? Bibliometrics and definitions of a broad concept

Authors: Guillaume Plaisance

Addresses: Research Institute in Management Science, Bordeaux University, IAE de Bordeaux, 35 Avenue Abadie, 33-000 Bordeaux, France

Abstract: This article focuses on the concept of non-profit governance and the associated literature. It proposes a bibliometric analysis and a study of the definitions of non-profit governance to examine the ambiguity of the concept, decried by some researchers. Others rather think that it is a question of plurality. Two hundred seventy-seven articles were selected from Scopus as well as from the main publishers of scientific journals in management sciences. A bibliometric analysis (main authors, preferred journals, date of publication, countries, etc.) is complemented by a lexicometric and linguistic analysis of keywords, abstracts and definitions of non-profit governance. The results indicate a strong inspiration towards for-profit governance, a focus on the board of directors and a plurality of definitions of non-profit governance. This article therefore opens up many new research perspectives, complementary to those already stated by researchers who have constructed research agendas.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; bibliometrics; definition; governance; non-profit governance; non-profit organisations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2023.134178

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2023 Vol.17 No.6, pp.619 - 653

Accepted: 29 Mar 2022
Published online: 13 Oct 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article