A bibliometric analysis of research linking corruption, deforestation, and economic growth from 1985 to 2025

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature examining the relationship between corruption, deforestation, and economic growth between 1985 and 2025. The analysis is based on records indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and uses VOSviewer to explore term co-occurrence networks, co-citation patterns, and scientific collaboration dynamics. The objective is to identify the thematic evolution of the field and the main conceptual approaches that have shaped the academic debate on environmental governance and sustainable development, particularly in relation to the interactions between institutional quality and ecosystem protection reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals framework. The results indicate that the literature has progressively incorporated institutional variables to explain processes of environmental degradation. The co-occurrence network reveals three main thematic clusters: one associated with forest governance, corruption, and illegal concessions; another with economic growth, foreign investment, and CO₂ emissions; and a third with sustainability, inequality, and development. The collaboration analysis also shows a strong concentration of scientific production in the United States and Europe. At the same time, regions highly affected by deforestation, such as Latin America, display comparatively lower participation. Overall, the study contributes to systematizing the field’s structure and identifying persistent gaps in research on environmental corruption and the governance of forest resources, highlighting their relevance for sustainability-oriented decision-making contexts.