How IJPR has addressed ‘lean’: a literature review using bibliometric tools

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the body of literature on lean published by the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR), which has been interested in the subject since its dawn. This review adopted a dynamic and quantitative bibliometric method composed of the keywords co-occurrence network and keywords burst detection. The analyses performed on keywords co-occurrence networks highlighted how research in IJPR has addressed research on lean over time and allowed a comparison with the consolidated research streams in literature. The burst detection completed the analysis highlighting the trends and most recent research areas characterising IJPR publications. The outcomes of this study reflected the evergreen relevance of lean; indeed, the latest research trajectories identified in IJPR stressed its link with the increasingly topical issues concerning industry 4.0, sustainability and remanufacturing. The analysis recognised in ‘lean Six Sigma’, and specifically in its support to the service sector, an under-considered topic, hence a scope that offers room for further study, in accordance with IJPR objectives.