Unveiling the future: A bibliometric review of emerging trends and hotspots in sustainable modern industrial chains

A modern industrial system is the material and technical foundation of a modern nation and sustainability is an important requirement for the construction of modern industrial chains. However, there remains a gap in research on the sustainability of modern industrial chains, not to mention visual research. Based on scientometric methods, a systematic analysis was conducted on 1049 literatures related to sustainable modern industrial chains (SMIc) during the period 2016–2025. Software such as VOSviewer 1.6.20 and CiteSpace 6.3.3 were used to perform visual analysis on the references and keywords of the collected literature, in order to explore the research hotspots and emerging trends of SMIc. The results showed that "Sustainability" is the most prominent keyword and the largest research hotspot of SMIc. "Supply Chain Management", "Sustainable Development", "Industry 4.0″, "Circular Economy", "Digital Transformation" are the main research hotspots of SMIc. "Circular Supply Chain", "lean manufacturing", "Artificial Intelligence", "IoT", "Digital Twin", "Blockchain Technology" are still bursting keywords and remain current research hotspots. SMIc present three different emerging trends: green low-carbon, macro development and technological innovation. "Circular economy", "Resilience" and "Industry 5.0" may become an emerging trend in the future. The overall evolution of SMIc is divided into four stages. The value of SMIc is concentrated in three aspects: environment, society and economy. Innovation-driven, safety and stability and ecological synergy are the main characteristics of SMIc.