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Unraveling contemporary trends on United Nations sustainable development goals: A new global bibliometric and literature review analysis

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  • Prince Gyimah
  • Kingsley Opoku Appiah
  • Kwadjo Appiagyei

Abstract

This review presents a bibliometric performance and systematic literature review of research publications related to the 17 United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) in business studies. The study employs the 2020 revised Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) framework to systematically evaluate and identify 583 articles sourced from esteemed academic databases, including Scopus and Web of Science, as well as seven reputable publishers and digital libraries, for subsequent analysis and synthesis. The identified 583 papers on SDGs, authored by 1610 scholars and published in 207 peer‐reviewed sources, are analyzed using VOSviewer and R Studio software. The analysis reveals the existence of nine independent clusters of SDGs business research: artificial intelligence and digitalization (red cluster), business collaboration (green cluster), corporate sustainability (blue cluster), circular economy and corporate social responsibility (yellow cluster), entrepreneurship and innovation (purple cluster), education for developing countries (aqua‐cluster), climate change and tourism (orange‐cluster), Africa perspectives (brown cluster), and sustainable investment (black cluster). This review highlights the foundation of the business studies debate linked to the advancement of the SDGs after the adoption by the United Nations. Key insights, future research directions and conclusion including implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Prince Gyimah & Kingsley Opoku Appiah & Kwadjo Appiagyei, 2025. "Unraveling contemporary trends on United Nations sustainable development goals: A new global bibliometric and literature review analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2579-2598, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:2:p:2579-2598
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.3255
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