Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method: A review of the literature

The Best-Worst Method (BWM) has emerged as a powerful and efficient technique in the field of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM), renowned for its simplicity, computational efficiency, and ability to address complex decision-making problems involving multiple conflicting criteria. As one of the leading MCDM methods, BWM has received significant attention across a wide range of disciplines and application areas. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review and bibliometric analysis of BWM-related research from 2015 to June 2025. This study investigates the integration of BWM with other Multi-Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) techniques. It also systematically examines BWM's application in environments characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity, addressing critical methodological challenges. Furthermore, the research categorizes and evaluates real-world applications of BWM, demonstrating its practical relevance and effectiveness across various domains. The bibliometric analysis covers multiple dimensions, including document analysis to track publication growth and trends, keyword analysis to identify emerging research themes, source analysis to highlight influential journals and conferences, author analysis to recognize leading contributors, affiliation analysis to map institutional and geographical contributions, citation analysis to assess impactful studies, and application analysis to explore BWM's diverse real-world uses. By offering valuable insights into the current state of BWM research, this study provides a foundation for future research and promotes the broader adoption of BWM in decision-making processes.