BIBGT: Combining Bibliometrics and Grounded Theory to Conduct a Literature Review

In the current context of scientific information overload, we propose a method combining bibliometrics and grounded theory to conduct literature reviews that have a descriptive, understanding or explanatory purpose. This overall inductive combined method, which we name BIBGT (BIB = Bibliometrics; GT = Grounded Theory) provides a powerful instrument for researchers. This instrument has been made more readily accessible by recent technological developments, and scientific advances in the field of bibliometrics. Notably, BIBGT helps grounded theorists identify colleges of thought of the field being reviewed, and representative texts to be reviewed in depth, in each college; it improves the trustworthiness and efficiency of reviews. BIBGT helps bibliometricians achieve in-depth analysis and interpretation of their findings. For all researchers, BIBGT can nurture the emergence of novel insights towards in-depth description, understanding or explanation of a core concept, theme, or research domain.

We detail the four steps of this flexible method, providing essential elements and some guidelines as well as an illustration, to help other researchers who wish to apply it.