Scopus bibliometric analysis maps global civil society research, 2019–2024

A bibliometric analysis of 2,528 civil society articles indexed in Scopus found that scholarship during 2019–2024 was concentrated in the Global North, with participation from the Global South increasing over the period. The study also identified democracy, human rights and governance as leading research themes, alongside attention to authoritarianism, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, nongovernmental organizations and collective action.

Researchers used Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to examine publication output, citation impact, active research domains and patterns of international collaboration. Their mapping found substantial intellectual connectivity across the literature, but the international collaboration network was centered on North–North and North–South connections. International collaboration accounted for 19.42% of the analyzed articles.

The abstract reports fluctuations in annual publication output and states that the pattern was responsive to the global context. Citation patterns were described as intricate, while research productivity remained dominated by the Global North despite growing participation from the Global South. The authors characterized the overall mapping as evidence of the relevance of civil society scholarship and said that the field requires more inclusive collaboration and deeper contextual research.

This report is based on the study’s published abstract rather than the full subscription article. The available evidence supports the scope, methods and main descriptive findings of the Scopus analysis, but it does not provide the article-level results, sensitivity analyses, journal coverage details, classification procedures or other methodological details needed for a fuller assessment of the study’s limitations. The analysis measures patterns in Scopus-indexed civil society research from 2019 through 2024; it does not itself establish changes in civil society activity or outcomes in society.

Subject of Research: Bibliometric analysis of global civil society research published in Scopus from 2019 to 2024.

Article Title: Bibliometric analysis of civil society: trends and developments from 2019-2024

Article References: Nalle, E. S., & Sugito (2026). Bibliometric analysis of civil society: trends and developments from 2019-2024. SN Social Sciences, 6(9), Article 377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-026-01652-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43545-026-01652-w

Keywords: civil society, bibliometric analysis, Scopus, Biblioshiny, VOSviewer, international collaboration, Global North, Global South, democracy, human rights, governance, NGOs