Tracing the evolution of finance research: A topic modeling analysis of AJG-ranked journals

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of evolving research trends in academic finance, using data from 78,822 articles published across 110 finance journals between 2000 and 2022, and tracks citation changes for 96% of these articles over an 18-month period. Structural Topic Modeling (STM) identifies 20 key research topics grouped into five broader themes: Financial Markets, Corporate Finance, Risk and Reward, Money, Credit and Banks, and Other Finance. Findings indicate that Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance dominate publication volume and citations, reflecting their continued influence, while interest in Option Pricing and Market Volatility has declined in favor of rapidly growing areas such as Alternative Finance. Through comparative word-frequency analysis, we observe minor but notable thematic differences in finance research topics before and after the financial crisis. Furthermore, our analysis reveals increased collaborative research, especially in top-tier journals, alongside insights into topic performance across journal tiers using linear regression modeling. We also find that certain ABS4 journals under-perform in citation impact compared to the average performance of ABS3 journals. Overall, this study provides a data-driven overview of the structure and evolution of finance research, offering practical insights for scholars, journal editors, and policymakers. By mapping topic dynamics and citation performance across time and journal tiers, the study serves as a valuable reference for shaping future research agendas, publication strategies, and funding priorities in the finance discipline. • Analyzed 78,822 finance articles using STM to identify 20 topics and 5 broader research themes. • Corporate Finance and Governance dominate in citations and volume • Alternative Finance is rapidly gaining prominence. • STM reveals dynamic topic trends, collaboration patterns, and journal-tier citation impacts. • Combines publication and citation trends to identify “hot” and “cold” topics for future finance research direction.