Knowledge mapping of entrepreneurship research during COVID-19 and forecasting research directions for the post-pandemic era

PurposeThe COVID-19 crisis has adversely affected entrepreneurs, innovators and their ventures and, arguably, entrepreneurship research. This study aims to map the knowledge of entrepreneurship research during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide evidence of literature evolution in the field with the purpose of supporting future decision-making for policymakers, academics and practitioners in the post-COVID-19 era.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines various bibliometric and scientometric indicators of entrepreneurship research in the Web of Science database using bibliometric techniques and visualization tools. Using the information gained, the scientometrics of entrepreneurship research during the COVID-19 time slice (2020–02-12 to 2022–10-15) are synthesized and comprehensively presented, and future research avenues for the post-COVID-19 era are suggested.FindingsThe results of rigorous quantitative analyses show that entrepreneurship research activities were not disrupted by COVID-19, although entrepreneurial activities themselves were impacted worldwide. In addition to providing key insights into the research field, including the most relevant keywords, keyword co-occurrences, publication sources, countries' contribution and collaboration, and source co-citations, the conceptual structural analysis separates the current trends (hotspots) into ten themes. Based on the evolution of author keywords and research themes, the study identified numerous future research directions, including 1) entrepreneurship in emerging countries, 2) firm performance in different categories of enterprises, 3) immigrants and transnational entrepreneurs, 4) technology in entrepreneurship education and 5) the impact of COVID-19 on the entrepreneurial ecosystem and entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implicationsBy building firm foundations for advancing the field in innovative and systematic ways, this timely study contributes to entrepreneurship literature and facilitates the understanding of the features and structures of entrepreneurship research towards the end of the pandemic. The research also has important implications for research management and entrepreneurship policymaking. The study's main limitation is that the results can only represent the time slice between 2020-02-12 and 2022-10-15.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and managers of research and development can utilize this research to prepare a crisis-related minimization handbook in advance.Originality/valueThis first data mapping and thematic analysis research for entrepreneurship during the period of COVID-19 provides the latest knowledge in the field at the beginning of the end of the pandemic. It empowers scholars by 1) providing a one-stop literature overview for this global crisis time slice, 2) identifying research focuses and gaps, 3) developing new research avenues for investigation and 4) contributing conceptual structure for specific entrepreneurship research projects.