Abstract
As an important research direction, operational research (OR) has always attracted scholars worldwide. We study the structure, trend and prospect in the OR field by conducting a bibliometric analysis of publications in the period of 1952–2020, which are included in the Web of Science (WoS) database. Using three effective bibliometric tools, namely, VOS viewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix, a total of 5,353 publications were retrieved to show clear visual results using a series of scientific analyses. First, a performance analysis revealed the basic characteristics of publications considering the type distribution, annual trend, quantity and quality. Then, a cooperation analysis presented the influential countries/regions and showed the relationships among countries/regions, institutions and authors during different periods based on bibliometric indicators and co-authorship networks. Moreover, a keyword analysis was conducted to investigate the hot topics and development of the OR field, using co-occurrence analysis, timeline view analysis and evolution analysis. Finally, we discussed the implications and limitations, and summarized the main findings. This study hopes to provide important and valuable references for future research on the OR field.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aria, M., & Cuccurullo, C. (2017). Bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. Journal of Informetrics, 11(4), 959–975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.08.007
Butler, M., Herlihy, P., & Keenan, P. B. (2005). Integrating information technology and operational research in the management of milk collection. Journal of Food Engineering, 70, 341–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.02.046
Chen, C. M. (2006). CiteSpace II: Detecting and visualizing emerging trends and transient patterns in scientific literature. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57, 359–377. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20317
Chen, C., & Leydesdorff, L. (2014). Patterns of connections and movements in dual-map overlays: A new method of publication portfolio analysis. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 65, 334–351. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.22968
Cobo, M. J., Lopez-Herrera, A. G., Herrera-Viedma, E., & Herrera, F. (2011). Science mapping software tools: Review, analysis, and cooperative sudy among tools. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62, 1382–1402. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21525
Eck, N. J. V., & Waltman, L. (2014). Citnetexplorer: A new software tool for analyzing and visualizing citation networks. Journal of Informetrics, 8, 802–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2014.07.006
Forliano, C., De Bernardi, P., & Yahiaoui, D. (2021). Entrepreneurial universities: A bibliometric analysis within the business and management domains. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 165, 120522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120522
Galli, L., Letchford, A. N., & Miller, S. J. (2018). New valid inequalities and facets for the simple plant location problem. European Journal of Operational Research, 269, 824–833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2018.03.009
He, X. R., Wu, Y. Y., Yu, D. J., & Merigo, J. M. (2017). Exploring the ordered weighted averaging operator knowledge domain: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 32, 1151–1166. https://doi.org/10.1002/int.21894
Hsieh, P. N., & Chang, P. L. (2009). An assessment of word-wide research productiveity in production and operations management. International Journal of Production Economics, 120, 540–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2009.03.015
Jiao, J. X., Zhou, F., Gebraeel, N. Z., & Duffy, V. (2020). Towards augmenting cyber-physical-human collaborative cognition for human-automation interaction in complex manufacturing and operational environments. International Journal of Production Research, 58(16), 5089–5111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2020.1722324
Jin, Y., & Li, X. (2019). Visualizing the hotspots and emerging trends of multimedia big data through scientometrics. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 78(2), 1289–1313. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6172-5
Kamdem, J. P., Duarte, A. E., Lima, K. R. R., Rocha, J. B. T., Hassan, W., Barros, L. M., Roeder, T., & Tsopmo, A. (2019). Research trends in food chemistry: A bibliometric review of its 40 years aniversary (1976–2016). Food Chemistry, 294, 448–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.05.021
Laengle, S., Merigo, J. M., Miranda, J., Slowinski, R., Bomze, I., Borgonovo, E., Dyson, R. G., Oliveira, J. F., & Teunter, R. (2017). Forty years of the European Journal of Operational Research: A bibliometric overview. European Journal of Operational Research, 262, 803–816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2017.04.027
Lam-Gordillo, O., Baring, R., & Dittmann, S. (2020). Ecosystem functioning and functional approaches on marine macrobenthic fauna: A research synthesis towards a global consensus. Ecological Indicators, 115, 106379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106379
Liao, H. C., Mi, X. M., & Xu, Z. S. (2020). A survey of decision-making methods with probabilistic linguistic information: Bibliometrics, preliminaries, methodologies, applications and future directions. Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, 19(1), 81–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-019-09309-5
Lio, W., & Liu, B. D. (2018). Uncertain data envelopment analysis with imprecisely observed inputs and outputs. Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, 17(3), 357–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-017-9276-x
Li, X. Y., Aneja, Y. P., & Baki, F. (2010). An ant colony optimization metaheuristic for single-path multicommodity network flow problems. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 61, 1340–1355. https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2009.86
Morse, P. M. (1952). The operations research society of America. Journal of the Operations Resrearch Society of America, 1(1), 1–2.
Mousazadeh, M., Torabi, S. A., Pishvaee, M. S., & Abolhassani, F. (2018). Health service network design: A robust possibilistic approach. International Transactions in Operational Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/itor.12417
Pinto, M. (2015). Viewing and exploring the subject area of information literacy assessment in higher education (2000–2011). Scientometrics, 102, 227–245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1440-2
Shang, G. Z., Saladin, B., Fry, T., & Donohue, J. (2015). Twenty-six years of operations management research (1985–2010): Authorship patterns and research constituents in eleven top rated journals. International Journal of Production Research, 53, 6161–6197. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1037935
Soleimani-damaneh, M., Pourkarimi, L., Korhonen, P. J., & Wallenius, J. (2021). An operational test for the existence of a consistent increasing quasi-concave value function. European Journal of Operational Research, 289(1), 232–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.06.049
Stopar, K., & Bartol, T. (2019). Digital competences, computer skills and information literacy in secondary education: Mapping and visualization of trends and concepts. Scientometrics, 118, 479–498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-018-2990-5
Wang, X. X., Xu, Z. S., & Gou, X. J. (2020). A novel plausible reasoning based on intuitionistic fuzzy propositional logic and its application in decision making. Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, 19(3), 251–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-020-09319-8
Wang, X. X., Xu, Z. S., Qin, Y., & Skare, M. (2021b). Foreign direct investment and economic growth: A dynamic study of measurement approaches and results. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1952090
Wang, X. X., Chang, Y. R., Xu, Z. S., Wang, Z. D., & Kadirkamanathan, V. (2021a). 50 Years of international journal of systems science: A review of the past and trends for the future. International Journal of Systems Science, 52(8), 1515–1538. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207721.2020.1862937
Wen, M. L., & Kang, R. (2016). Reliability analysis in uncertain random system. Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, 15(4), 491–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-016-9235-y
White, H. (2018). Pennants for Garfield: Bibliometrics and document retrieval. Scientometrics, 114, 757–778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2610-9
Xie, H., Zhang, Y., Wu, Z., & Lv, T. (2020). A bibliometric analysis on land degradation: Current status, development, and future directions. Land, 9(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9010028
Xu, Y. Q., Zhu, L. J., & Pinedo, M. (2020). Operational risk management: A stochastic control framework with preventive and corrective. Operations Research, 68(6), 1804–1825. https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2019.1960
Yu, D. J., Xu, Z. S., Kao, Y. S., & Lin, C. T. (2018). The structure and citation landscape of IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems (1994–2015). IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, 26, 430–442. https://doi.org/10.1109/TFUZZ.2017.2672732
Yu, D. J., Xu, Z. S., & Wang, W. R. (2019). A bibliometric analysis of Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making (2002–2017). Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, 18(3), 371–397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-018-9301-8
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 72071135, 71771155, 72101168; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant YJ202063, and SXYPY202146; and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant No. 2021M692259.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, X., Xu, Z. & Qin, Y. Structure, trend and prospect of operational research: a scientific analysis for publications from 1952 to 2020 included in Web of Science database. Fuzzy Optim Decis Making 21, 649–672 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-021-09380-x
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10700-021-09380-x