Current status and trends of megaproject research: bibliometric and text mining analysis

Purpose This study aims to comprehensively review and analyze research topics and trends in the field of megaprojects by integrating bibliometric analysis with latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling techniques. The objective is to explore the development dynamics and key issues within this field, providing clear direction and guidance for future research. Design/methodology/approach A total of 1,652 journal articles related to megaprojects were collected from the Web of Science database. Initially, bibliometric tools were employed to analyze the research dynamics in this field, including annual publication counts, citation trends, major contributors and keyword clustering. Subsequently, LDA topic modeling techniques were used to identify and establish key research topics within co-citation clusters, thus providing a comprehensive summary of the current research trends in megaprojects. Findings This study identified and confirmed 13 key research topics in the field of megaprojects, including “urban development and construction management,” “collaborative governance and relationship management,” “resource management and performance optimization,” “ecological protection and environmental governance,” “stakeholder engagement and social responsibility,” “project performance and risk management,” “social justice and local governance,” “cost management and infrastructure governance,” “renewable energy and sustainable development,” “project management and contract governance,” “urban growth and risk assessment,” “spatial capital and political practice” and “social governance and safety management.” Based on these topics, the study summarized five major trends in megaproject research: scope management, relationship management, resource management, risk management and sustainability. Originality/value This study employs an innovative methodological framework to comprehensively uncover the research topics and evolutionary trends in the field of megaproject management, addressing the gap in existing literature regarding holistic analyses of this domain. Building on these findings, the study further provides theoretical support and practical guidance for scope control, multi-stakeholder collaboration, resource optimization, complex risk management and sustainable development in megaprojects. These contributions hold significant value for advancing knowledge accumulation and enhancing management practices within this field.