Combining Bibliometric and Social Network Analysis to Understand the Scholarly Publications on Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This article aims to conduct a comprehensive study employing bibliometric and social network analysis to explore scholarly publications in artificial intelligence (AI). A co-authorship network analysis of countries/regions and institutions, a thematic analysis based on the co-occurrence of keywords, and a Spearman rank correlation test of social network analysis are conducted using VOSviewer and SPSS, respectively. According to the research power analysis, the United States and China are the most significant contributors to the relevant publications and hold dominant positions in the co-authorship network. Universities play a crucial role in promoting and carrying out relevant research. AI has been increasingly applied to address new problems and challenges in various fields in recent years. The Spearman rank correlation analysis indicates that research performance in AI is significantly and positively correlated with social network indicators. This article reveals a systematic picture of the research landscape of AI, which can provide a potential guide for future research.