Title: Environmental, social and governance research: a bibliometric analysis

Authors: Mehak Upveja; Kapil Choudhary; Simran Kalra; Sakshi Mehta

Addresses: Department of Commerce, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, 125055, India ' Department of Commerce, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, 125055, India ' Department of Commerce, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, 125055, India ' Department of Commerce, Government National College, Sirsa, 125055, India

Abstract: This comprehensive research study aims to bring attention to the theoretical foundations, key findings and identify the fertile research streams in ESG by providing quantitative and qualitative insights. Environmental, social, and governance integration into strategies, processes, and financial instruments are gaining recognition to drive value. This analysis evaluates 1,561 studies published between 1973-2022. The study uses a combination of VosViewer and biblioshiny to discover the most significant research studies, leading journals, citation analysis, and prominent authors. The broader categorisation of studies is aided by cluster analysis as well. Further, a rigorous investigation of these research studies reveals numerous loopholes, provides researchers, practitioners, policymakers, shareholders, employees, and business people interested in ESG with a goldmine of valuable data, and proposes a framework of actionable themes for future generation research.

Keywords: ESG; bibliometric analysis; sustainability; PageRank analysis; VOSviewer; biblioshiny; Gephi.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2025.145927

International Journal of Management Practice, 2025 Vol.18 No.3, pp.299 - 330

Received: 02 Feb 2023
Accepted: 09 Apr 2024
Published online: 30 Apr 2025 *

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