BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE LOGISTICS MECHANISM: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

The purpose of the article is to identify trends and key areas of research on the logistics mechanism by conducting a structural-trend and bibliometric analysis of scientific publications. The analytical tools of the scientometric databases Scopus, Web of Science and VOSviewer version 1.6.20 were used for the study. The number of publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, the titles, abstracts and keywords of which contain the term logistics mechanism, is growing rapidly every year. The term “logistics mechanism” is interdisciplinary in nature. The leaders in terms of the number of publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science containing the term “logistics mechanism” are China, the USA, and the UK. The authors with the highest productivity in Scopus and Web of Science databases study the issues of supply chain integration, artificial intelligence, blockchain, transformation of a logistics service provider, logistics outsourcing, and innovation management of logistics service providers. There is a significant difference in the sectoral structure of publications, since in the Scopus database most publications are related to decision-making science, and in the Web of Science database to ecology. There are 8 clusters that characterize the key areas of research on the logistics mechanism: logistics, management, firm efficiency, challenges, sustainable development, supply chain management, decision making, coordination. Recently, research has been popular, mainly related to green supply chains, Industry 4.0, blockchain technologies, Covid-19, Big Data analysis, resilience, and the circular economy. A close relationship between the logistics mechanism and the following keywords has been identified: firm performance, information, innovation, collaboration, influence, management, supply chain, allocation, structure, regulation, transportation. The result of the study is to identify the determinants of the development of the logistics mechanism by analyzing the state and trends of publication activity in this area, as well as to identify areas that require further research.