**3. Mapping of the state of the art and identification and analysis of gaps and trends of research**

The main objective of the analysis of gaps in the literature is to provide the researcher ways to identify opportunities for exploring new relevant topics of a given field of research, as well as studies that have not been fully explored and which require the development of further studies in order to advance the state of the art of a particular theme. Therefore, in this section some types of analysis that may converge in the identification of scientific gaps and research trends will be presented.

### **3.1 Analysis of authors, countries, institutions, articles, and keywords**

The analysis of most cited authors is helpful to the researcher to know the authors who are reference in the area under study and then always be attentive to new studies published by these authors. In this analysis, it is recommended that authors with a minimum number of publications be selected, as this will avoid the selection of authors who are not experts in the field. This type of analysis may indicate to the researcher opportunities for co-orientation partnerships, participation in international research groups, etc.

The analysis of the most cited authors in a theme and their most recent articles on this topic is a way of guiding the development of a bibliometric article that aims at the identification and analysis of gaps and trends. The selection of authors with a minimum number of publications can be done manually in the main research platforms or it can be done by means of the software VOSviewer, which performs the analysis of most cited authors with the option to select the filter of minimum number of publications of a given author.

The analyses of most cited countries and institutions are other possibilities of bibliometric analyses that can help the researcher to direct his academic plans,

since the researcher who intends to carry out a research internship must know in advance the countries, institutions, and research centers of excellence in your area. Therefore, the analyses of countries, institutions, and research centers most cited can help researchers to justify possible proposals for research abroad and may also open doors for the establishment of cooperation agreements between students, professors, research groups, and also between universities.

In order to perform these types of analyses, the use of the VOSviewer software is also recommended, since it automatically counts the number of occurrences and citations of each country or institution in a portfolio of documents. In addition, the software is capable of creating several types of networks, such as co-citation and co-authorship, citation of articles, institutions and countries, co-occurrence of keywords, etc. **Figures 5–7** show three forms of visualization of an example of a co-citation network of authors elaborated with the aid of the software VOSviewer, using the data exported by the Scopus platform in ".csv "format type.

Notice in **Figure 5** that the "network visualization" is the simplest display mode, which shows the iterations of co-authorship and formation of some clusters. The second display mode "Overlay visualization" (**Figure 6**) returns a network that brings iterations of co-authorship and formation of clusters and, in addition, brings information of chronological type (see the legend in the bottom right corner of **Figure 6**). Finally, the third display mode (**Figure 7**), although does not show iterations and clusters as the other modes, clearly allows to verify the different densities of the information shown in the network. In this way, it is emphasized that the three display modes are interesting; however, it is important that the researcher knows how to identify the one that can best help the execution of the analyses taking into account the objectives to be reached.

The analysis of the most cited and relevant articles is an important step to help the researcher to develop a theoretical framework of quality for your research project. The researcher needs to be aware of which articles are prominent in the area under study so that documents with important contributions are not left out of the reading portfolio. Likewise, the analysis of the recent articles published by the most cited authors on a given topic can make the identification and analysis of gaps and trends more robust, since it can indicate if the identified gaps have been filled and if there are opportunities for developing new studies.

**57**

**Figure 6.**

**Figure 7.**

academic community.

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps…*

*Author co-citation network in the "overlay visualization" display mode [15,19].*

*Author co-citation network in the "density visualization" display mode [15,19].*

Researchers are also advised to filter, select, and analyze articles that are most relevant to the topic studied. The option to search for articles by relevance is available on the main research platforms. The results returned in this type of search are in general articles with few citations, since they are commonly newly published. However, to select these articles, the research platforms carry out a projection that identifies the relevant articles based on an evaluation that takes into account the journal in which it was published, research area, average number of citations of similar previous works, etc. Thus, it is important to include the relevant articles in the bibliometric analysis, because they have great potential of impacting on the

**Figure 8** illustrates a possible ranking of the most cited articles for the "business strategy" topic, while **Table 4** presents the objectives, methods, results, and proposal of future studies presented in a selected article for later identification and

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

### **Figure 5.**

*Author co-citation network in the "network visualization" display mode [15,19].*

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

### **Figure 6.**

*Scientometrics Recent Advances*

account the objectives to be reached.

there are opportunities for developing new studies.

*Author co-citation network in the "network visualization" display mode [15,19].*

since the researcher who intends to carry out a research internship must know in advance the countries, institutions, and research centers of excellence in your area. Therefore, the analyses of countries, institutions, and research centers most cited can help researchers to justify possible proposals for research abroad and may also open doors for the establishment of cooperation agreements between students,

In order to perform these types of analyses, the use of the VOSviewer software is also recommended, since it automatically counts the number of occurrences and citations of each country or institution in a portfolio of documents. In addition, the software is capable of creating several types of networks, such as co-citation and co-authorship, citation of articles, institutions and countries, co-occurrence of keywords, etc. **Figures 5–7** show three forms of visualization of an example of a co-citation network of authors elaborated with the aid of the software VOSviewer,

Notice in **Figure 5** that the "network visualization" is the simplest display mode, which shows the iterations of co-authorship and formation of some clusters. The second display mode "Overlay visualization" (**Figure 6**) returns a network that brings iterations of co-authorship and formation of clusters and, in addition, brings information of chronological type (see the legend in the bottom right corner of **Figure 6**). Finally, the third display mode (**Figure 7**), although does not show iterations and clusters as the other modes, clearly allows to verify the different densities of the information shown in the network. In this way, it is emphasized that the three display modes are interesting; however, it is important that the researcher knows how to identify the one that can best help the execution of the analyses taking into

The analysis of the most cited and relevant articles is an important step to help

the researcher to develop a theoretical framework of quality for your research project. The researcher needs to be aware of which articles are prominent in the area under study so that documents with important contributions are not left out of the reading portfolio. Likewise, the analysis of the recent articles published by the most cited authors on a given topic can make the identification and analysis of gaps and trends more robust, since it can indicate if the identified gaps have been filled and if

professors, research groups, and also between universities.

using the data exported by the Scopus platform in ".csv "format type.

**56**

**Figure 5.**

*Author co-citation network in the "overlay visualization" display mode [15,19].*

### **Figure 7.**

*Author co-citation network in the "density visualization" display mode [15,19].*

Researchers are also advised to filter, select, and analyze articles that are most relevant to the topic studied. The option to search for articles by relevance is available on the main research platforms. The results returned in this type of search are in general articles with few citations, since they are commonly newly published. However, to select these articles, the research platforms carry out a projection that identifies the relevant articles based on an evaluation that takes into account the journal in which it was published, research area, average number of citations of similar previous works, etc. Thus, it is important to include the relevant articles in the bibliometric analysis, because they have great potential of impacting on the academic community.

**Figure 8** illustrates a possible ranking of the most cited articles for the "business strategy" topic, while **Table 4** presents the objectives, methods, results, and proposal of future studies presented in a selected article for later identification and


### **Figure 8.**

*Example of classification of the most cited articles according to the total number of citations. Source: Prepared by the authors.*

analysis of gaps and trends. **Table 4** can also help to develop a general perception of a possible timeline and its groups and interactions, which are analyses that will be discussed in the next section.

The classification of the most cited articles in **Figure 8** is in decreasing order, and the ranking was based on the total number of citations accumulated in the period from 2002 to 2016. The search filters were used to return the articles that contained in their titles the word "business strategy" in the "business, management, and accounting,", "social science," "engineering," "environmental science," and "economics, econometrics, and financial" areas.

As the articles of the example in **Figure 8** can be classified in different ways, it is advisable for the researchers to choose to categorize the articles according to their own needs. It should be noted that the list would have another sequence, for example, if the articles presented in **Figure 8** were classified according to the average of citations that the article receives per year or, even, if they were classified based on the impact factors of the journals to which they were published, etc.

Another way to identify gaps in the literature is by means of analyzing the most commonly used keywords in articles on a given topic. The relevance of a particular topic can be measured by the frequency with which the keywords appear in the portfolio of documents analyzed in the bibliometric study. In this way, it is possible to identify whether a topic has already been sufficiently explored and whether there is still the possibility of its further exploration. For example, if a topic is in evidence due to the frequency of a keyword, it may be easier to characterize the existence of gap in the literature, depending on the researcher's experience.

On the other hand, the researcher should be attentive if a keyword that was often used in the articles is today no longer observed with such frequency and regularity, because it can be a sign of a possible exhaustion of a theme in the literature. In order to perform these types of analysis, the use of the software VOSviewer is also recommended, since it automatically counts the number of occurrences of the keywords in the selected articles.

Concerning the identification of gaps by reading the articles, it should be noted that there are two ways to accomplish it. The first one is by analyzing the gaps that are explicit in the text, that is, those that are usually at the conclusion of the articles and, therefore, are easier to identify. Besides, sometimes it is possible that difficulties faced with the conduction of a study can be also considered an explicit gap that may originate new researches.

Among the explicit gaps may also be, for example, those arising from geographical limitations, which are consequences of the natural limitations of the studies.

**59**

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps…*

"Organizational agility" is often treated as an immutable quality, implying that firms need to be in a constant state of transformation. However, this ignores that such transformations, while often essential, come at a cost. They are not always necessary and may not even be possible. This article explores agility at a more fundamental level and relates it more specifically to dynamic capabilities. It demonstrates that it is first essential to understand deep uncertainty, which is ubiquitous in the innovation economy. Business models, dynamic capabilities, and strategy are interdependent. The strength of a firm's dynamic capabilities helps shape its proficiency at business model design. Through its effect on organization design, a business model influences the firm's dynamic capabilities and places bounds on the feasibility of particular

**method**

Theoretical; in-depth review of your own literature, based on the new practices and needs of modern markets

**Literature gaps**

While these relationships are understood at a theoretical level, there is a need for future empirical work to flesh out the details. In particular, studies that provide a better understanding of business model innovation, implementation, and change will also shed light on important aspects of dynamic capabilities. Uncertainty is very different from risk, which can be managed using traditional tools and approaches. Strong dynamic capabilities are necessary for fostering the organizational agility necessary to address deep uncertainty, such as that generated by innovation and the associated dynamic competition

**Author(s) Objective Findings Research** 

In this sense, it is common for researchers to point out in the conclusion of their articles that the expansion of the area of application of the study proves to be a research opportunity. In order to emphasize the relevance of this type of gap, it is recommended to check whether other researches with similar objectives are equally geographically limited. If the geographical limitation is confirmed, a research can be justified by the need to apply the study in other regions, countries, or continents. The second way to identify gaps in the literature by reading is identifying the implicit gaps in the text. These gaps are harder to identify because they are not highlighted in an explicit manner in the text. Thus, in order to identify implicit gaps, it is important to consider the reader's experience and familiarity with the topic, since researchers with more experiences in a given topic are more likely to identify gaps

strategies

*Example of main information to be analyzed in an article and/or review.*

Grouping the topics approached in the bibliometric study in research subareas, conducting the timeline analysis, and searching for similarities between the various groups are important steps to be followed in order to identify gaps and trends of research. The

procedures to accomplish this step of the method are presented in this section.

related to it than less experienced researchers.

**3.2 Grouping, timeline, and analysis of interactions**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

of this article is to explore the mechanisms by which managers can gauge the required level of organizational agility, deliver it costeffectively, and relate it to strategy

Teece [20] The purpose

*Source: Prepared by the authors.*

**Table 4.**


*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

*Source: Prepared by the authors.*

### **Table 4.**

*Scientometrics Recent Advances*

discussed in the next section.

**Figure 8.**

*by the authors.*

keywords in the selected articles.

may originate new researches.

"economics, econometrics, and financial" areas.

gap in the literature, depending on the researcher's experience.

analysis of gaps and trends. **Table 4** can also help to develop a general perception of a possible timeline and its groups and interactions, which are analyses that will be

*Example of classification of the most cited articles according to the total number of citations. Source: Prepared* 

The classification of the most cited articles in **Figure 8** is in decreasing order, and the ranking was based on the total number of citations accumulated in the period from 2002 to 2016. The search filters were used to return the articles that contained in their titles the word "business strategy" in the "business, management, and accounting,", "social science," "engineering," "environmental science," and

As the articles of the example in **Figure 8** can be classified in different ways, it is advisable for the researchers to choose to categorize the articles according to their own needs. It should be noted that the list would have another sequence, for example, if the articles presented in **Figure 8** were classified according to the average of citations that the article receives per year or, even, if they were classified based on the impact factors of the journals to which they were published, etc.

Another way to identify gaps in the literature is by means of analyzing the most commonly used keywords in articles on a given topic. The relevance of a particular topic can be measured by the frequency with which the keywords appear in the portfolio of documents analyzed in the bibliometric study. In this way, it is possible to identify whether a topic has already been sufficiently explored and whether there is still the possibility of its further exploration. For example, if a topic is in evidence due to the frequency of a keyword, it may be easier to characterize the existence of

On the other hand, the researcher should be attentive if a keyword that was often used in the articles is today no longer observed with such frequency and regularity, because it can be a sign of a possible exhaustion of a theme in the literature. In order to perform these types of analysis, the use of the software VOSviewer is also recommended, since it automatically counts the number of occurrences of the

Concerning the identification of gaps by reading the articles, it should be noted that there are two ways to accomplish it. The first one is by analyzing the gaps that are explicit in the text, that is, those that are usually at the conclusion of the articles and, therefore, are easier to identify. Besides, sometimes it is possible that difficulties faced with the conduction of a study can be also considered an explicit gap that

Among the explicit gaps may also be, for example, those arising from geographical limitations, which are consequences of the natural limitations of the studies.

**58**

*Example of main information to be analyzed in an article and/or review.*

In this sense, it is common for researchers to point out in the conclusion of their articles that the expansion of the area of application of the study proves to be a research opportunity. In order to emphasize the relevance of this type of gap, it is recommended to check whether other researches with similar objectives are equally geographically limited. If the geographical limitation is confirmed, a research can be justified by the need to apply the study in other regions, countries, or continents.

The second way to identify gaps in the literature by reading is identifying the implicit gaps in the text. These gaps are harder to identify because they are not highlighted in an explicit manner in the text. Thus, in order to identify implicit gaps, it is important to consider the reader's experience and familiarity with the topic, since researchers with more experiences in a given topic are more likely to identify gaps related to it than less experienced researchers.

### **3.2 Grouping, timeline, and analysis of interactions**

Grouping the topics approached in the bibliometric study in research subareas, conducting the timeline analysis, and searching for similarities between the various groups are important steps to be followed in order to identify gaps and trends of research. The procedures to accomplish this step of the method are presented in this section.

After performing the analysis of gaps in the selected articles and reviews, it is possible to group the main issues addressed in the studied universe. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the structure of the state of the art of the theme, highlighting how its research subareas have evolved over time, how they are developing, and where they are going.

Grouping the various topics into research subareas is a task that requires some degree of mastery on the state of the art of the field studied. For this reason, it is important to develop the analyses of most cited authors and articles, countries and research centers in evidence, etc., because through them it will be possible to extract a rich set of information that will help the perception of similarities, the formation of groups, and the identification of trends of research.

The recommended technique for performing groupings is content analysis, which seeks to identify in a document the frequency with which categories of a given subject are addressed [21]. To determine the categories (or groups), the researcher must identify the most recurring topics (or elements) and account for the frequency that they are addressed directly or indirectly in the articles and reviews analyzed.

To facilitate the visualization of this analysis, a radar chart can be developed. It will show the frequency of occurrence of the elements in the literature and will show the ones that are most recurrent and that, therefore, should lead the formation of the groups. **Figure 9** illustrates the grouping process proposed in this chapter.

It is recommended that the elements with about 70% of occurrence in the portfolio of articles and reviews lead the formation of the groups, since these represent subjects that have been widely discussed in the literature. Once the key elements are

**61**

**Figure 10.**

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps…*

identified, the other elements should be grouped together based on an analysis of

It is important to emphasize that the grouping may be led by elements mentioned directly or indirectly in the studies analyzed. Therefore, the group formed from the grouping of elements directly addressed in the texts will be a more mature group, that is, several papers involving the subject have already been published, which shows that the group has already reached a significant degree of development in the state of the art analyzed. On the other hand, the group resulting from the grouping of elements indirectly addressed in the texts may indicate the need to better develop a line of research that, although frequently addressed in the literature,

Once the groups have been created, one must try to understand the evolutionary process of each of them over the years, what are their contributions to the state of the art, and where is the research going in each subarea, evidencing the gaps and trends of each group. The timeline is a tool of analysis that can illustrate from a temporal point of view the general evolution of each group over the years. It also allows the evaluation of the maturity of the research subareas. **Figure 10** shows an example of timeline for the "Integrated Management Systems" search field.

As can be observed in **Figure 10**, the timeline allows researchers to better visualize the contributions of each group for the building of the state of the art, allowing even the comparison of the evolution between the different groups by tracing

The maturity of each group can be observed according to the volume and distribution of the publications fixed in the axes. In this way, axes with a higher density of work represent the more developed groups, while the more vague axes represent

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

does not yet have specific papers published in this regard.

transverse lines to the horizontal axes of the timeline.

the groups that need more research to be developed.

*Timeline to the "Integrated Management Systems" study field [13].*

similarities.

### **Figure 9.**

*Grouping process. Source: prepared by the authors.*

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

identified, the other elements should be grouped together based on an analysis of similarities.

It is important to emphasize that the grouping may be led by elements mentioned directly or indirectly in the studies analyzed. Therefore, the group formed from the grouping of elements directly addressed in the texts will be a more mature group, that is, several papers involving the subject have already been published, which shows that the group has already reached a significant degree of development in the state of the art analyzed. On the other hand, the group resulting from the grouping of elements indirectly addressed in the texts may indicate the need to better develop a line of research that, although frequently addressed in the literature, does not yet have specific papers published in this regard.

Once the groups have been created, one must try to understand the evolutionary process of each of them over the years, what are their contributions to the state of the art, and where is the research going in each subarea, evidencing the gaps and trends of each group. The timeline is a tool of analysis that can illustrate from a temporal point of view the general evolution of each group over the years. It also allows the evaluation of the maturity of the research subareas. **Figure 10** shows an example of timeline for the "Integrated Management Systems" search field.

As can be observed in **Figure 10**, the timeline allows researchers to better visualize the contributions of each group for the building of the state of the art, allowing even the comparison of the evolution between the different groups by tracing transverse lines to the horizontal axes of the timeline.

The maturity of each group can be observed according to the volume and distribution of the publications fixed in the axes. In this way, axes with a higher density of work represent the more developed groups, while the more vague axes represent the groups that need more research to be developed.

**Figure 10.** *Timeline to the "Integrated Management Systems" study field [13].*

*Scientometrics Recent Advances*

and where they are going.

reviews analyzed.

of groups, and the identification of trends of research.

After performing the analysis of gaps in the selected articles and reviews, it is possible to group the main issues addressed in the studied universe. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the structure of the state of the art of the theme, highlighting how its research subareas have evolved over time, how they are developing,

Grouping the various topics into research subareas is a task that requires some degree of mastery on the state of the art of the field studied. For this reason, it is important to develop the analyses of most cited authors and articles, countries and research centers in evidence, etc., because through them it will be possible to extract a rich set of information that will help the perception of similarities, the formation

The recommended technique for performing groupings is content analysis, which seeks to identify in a document the frequency with which categories of a given subject are addressed [21]. To determine the categories (or groups), the researcher must identify the most recurring topics (or elements) and account for the frequency that they are addressed directly or indirectly in the articles and

To facilitate the visualization of this analysis, a radar chart can be developed. It will show the frequency of occurrence of the elements in the literature and will show the ones that are most recurrent and that, therefore, should lead the formation of the groups. **Figure 9** illustrates the grouping process proposed in this chapter. It is recommended that the elements with about 70% of occurrence in the portfolio of articles and reviews lead the formation of the groups, since these represent subjects that have been widely discussed in the literature. Once the key elements are

**60**

**Figure 9.**

*Grouping process. Source: prepared by the authors.*


### **Table 5.**

*Group analysis [13].*

In addition to the time line, the groups and their respective contributions can be presented as shown in **Table 5**.

It can be seen in **Table 5** that the 30 articles analyzed were classified into 5 groups, each one adding value to an important area of the state of the art on "Integrated Management Systems."

After grouping the topics and understanding the particularities of each group, it is recommended to identify if there is any relation between them, that is, if there is a structure of evolution according to which one group gave support to the development of another. **Figure 11** shows a map of interactions with the interactions between the research groups on "Integrated Management Systems."

As shown in **Figure 11**, it is common for the more mature groups to influence the development of more recent ones, as the publications of a group can add important contributions and indicate gaps that may create trends of research to advance the state of the art of a given study field as a whole. It is important that the synergies between the groups and the pathway of formation and development of the state of the art are indicated in the map of interactions.

The analysis of interactions is a final analysis that must be conducted with a systemic view, because from it the researcher can perceive interaction relationships with potential to give rise to groups with original research proposals. Upon reaching this point of application of the method, the researcher is expected to know the particularities of the field under study and the main groups belonging to it, so that the analyses performed previously will provide support for the identification of relations of interactions between the various groups.

**63**

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps…*

In this chapter, a method of bibliometric analysis was proposed in order to help researchers develop a relevant research project based on the mapping of the state of the art of a given topic and the identification, grouping, and analysis of gaps and

It was observed that the choice of the scientific research platform to be used in the study is one of the actions that has a significant impact in the bibliometric analysis and, therefore, must be careful and well planned so that the research will return assertive results and reworking will not be necessary in the subsequent stages of the analysis. In addition, it was verified that it is necessary to establish criteria to perform the search of the articles, which must take into account the research topic,

In the proposed method, the mapping of the state of the art should be initiated with the definition of the bibliometric parameters by the researcher, which has to be consistent with those available in the scientific research platforms. By analyzing the data mined, it is possible to compare the performance of the literature according to

It is concluded that the use of data extracted from two or more platforms can result in a more robust and consistent bibliometric analysis. However, it is possible that the researcher faces difficulties in the integration stage of the data. In this sense, it is important to highlight that although there are computational tools that help the integration of this data, these still need great improvements, demanding extreme attention of the researcher in the process of mining and

The analyses presented in this chapter are important elements to expose and explain the scientific gaps present in the literature that can base research projects. Therefore, it can be concluded that the method presented is essential to help researchers to develop their research in a way that they actually bring out significant contributions to the literature. It is also concluded that the application of this method can result in the expansion of the frontiers of science by promoting the

the objectives of the study, and the limits of the research field.

each platform to corroborate, complement, or refute results.

investigation of relevant and avant-garde topics.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

**4. Conclusions**

*Map of interactions. Adapted from [13].*

**Figure 11.**

trends of research.

analysis of the data.

*Bibliometric Method for Mapping the State-of-the-Art and Identifying Research Gaps… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85856*

**Figure 11.** *Map of interactions. Adapted from [13].*
