The Engineering Project Organization Society and megaprojects: literature analysis using keywords

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the Engineering Project Organization Society (EPOS) has addressed the issue of megaprojects at their annual conferences organized from 2006 to 2016. The literature analysis used in this paper is a form of content analysis. It focuses on the usage of a particular term in scientific papers. In this case, the key term is “megaprojects” or “mega-projects”. Papers in which this term appears are selected for further analysis. The findings show that the main keyword “megaproject” or “mega-project” appears 22 times in the identified papers. It appears in 10 titles and nine abstracts. Most important for this literature analysis, it appears in seven lists of keywords. Literature analysis proceeded by analyzing the associated keywords in the seven papers in which the main keyword “megaproject” or “mega-projects” can be found in the listed keywords. The analysis shows that the main associated keywords are “governance”, “complexity”, and “trust”. This research provides a view of the collective understanding of megaprojects within the EPOS community and helps to shape further research in this field. In addition, the results of this research can be seen as a step forward for scholars and practitioners to discuss and develop a new theoretical framework for better understanding of megaproject governance.