Unveiling the Knowledge Architecture of ESG and Sustainability Research: A Bibliometric Exploration of Trends, Networks, and Research Frontiers

Abstract

ABSTRACT As the global Sustainable Development agenda advances, the scale of research in the ESG field has continued to expand. However, the knowledge structure of existing relevant research is scattered across four major disciplines: finance, governance, environmental management, and Sustainable Development, with clear research gaps identified. This study focuses on ESG and SDGs‐related issues in the field of sustainable finance and adopts a bibliometric and science‐mapping approach, using Biblioshiny (R‐Bibliometrix) and VOSviewer for performance analysis and network visualization and takes 8667 journal papers indexed in the Scopus database from 2012 to 2026 as its research sample. The study finds that the annual growth rate of the relevant literature reaches 46.90%; eight core keywords are extracted; and ESG research is shifting toward five emerging directions. In follow‐up work, these themes will be transformed into research questions to build a future research agenda.