Bibliographic coupling: a main path analysis from 1963 to 2020

Introduction. This paper applies a unique citation-based method to analyse the development trajectory of bibliographic coupling research from 1963 to 2020. Method. Main path analysis is applied to a citation network created based on bibliographic data retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index of the Web of Science. Analysis. The analysis incorporated two major phases of basic bibliometrics (publication and citation trends, highly cited authors and core journals) and main path analysis. Results. A total of 223 papers on bibliographic coupling by 461 authors were identified. The papers were cited 5,575 times across ninety-three journals. The main paths, consisting of twenty-six documents, were further divided into emergence, opening, and consolidation periods on the basis of their publication date. Conclusions. This paper is the first to present the development trajectory of bibliographic coupling research. It not only emphasises how current state-of-the-art bibliographic coupling developed but also highlights critical studies in the field.