A Scientometric Analysis of Supplier Selection Research

Supplier selection (SS) is a decision-making process by which potential suppliers can be identified, evaluated, and ranked. Thus, multiple types of financial resources are used that can significantly contribute to the success of a firm. This study offers a broad view of SS publications from 1973 to 2019 through scientometric analysis recruiting Scopus, the Elsevier’s abstract and citation database, as a primary search engine. The documents are also statistically classified in terms of different criteria. The research results indicate that publications have considerably grown over the past few years. Moreover, the most influential countries, institutions, journals, papers, authors, and collaborations in the field of SS literature are identified. Besides, the most-cited papers are thoroughly discussed. Finally, keywords are analyzed and hot research topics are presented. This study hopes to bring awareness to researchers, journal editors, and industries in future efforts.