Mapping and Clustering of Knowledge Management Research Based on Co-Word Analysis of Articles Indexed in Web of Science (WoS) Website

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive picture of the status of scientific activities in the field of knowledge management

The present study is an applied one that has been done using Co-Word analysis methods and descriptive and analytical statistics. Web of Science website and Publish or Perish software were used for data gathering and 6844 knowledge management documents including the scientific productions of 1977 to 2020 were collected. Graph theory and VOSviewer social network analysis software were used to draw the coherent map < br />

This paper outlines the thematic domain of knowledge management research projects and their leading trends. Big data, cloud computing, IoT, open innovation, social network data analytics, are new phenomena in the field of knowledge management. Most of the publications in this field belong to China and most of the references are to US publications. The findings also show that innovation, performance and ontology have been the most commonly used terms in this field.

The scope of knowledge management research includes six main branches and 17 sub-branches. In Iran, most research on the second and third clusters focuses on innovation, customer relationship management, organizational performance, knowledge management processes, and key factors in the success of knowledge management. . Based on these observations, it is recommended that the priority of research be assigned to the first cluster: knowledge management architecture and organizational intelligence, and the fourth cluster: wikis and social media in knowledge management.