Mapping the methodological evolution of migration studies (2000–2026): a Scopus-based bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer

Purpose Existing methodological reviews of migration research are confined to sub-fields. This study maps the distribution of analytical approaches across research on migration and human mobility published between 2000 and 2026, interpreting the findings with reference to urban and spatial planning. Design/methodology/approach A Boolean query combining migration and methodological terminology was executed in Scopus on 23 January 2026. PRISMA-based screening under a Population–Concept–Context eligibility framework yielded 655 documents. VOSviewer 1.6.20 was used for trend analysis, co-authorship analysis and keyword co-occurrence mapping with a temporal overlay. Findings Output accelerated after 2020, at 12.4% annually between 2018 and 2025. The keyword network resolves into five clusters. The corpus contains two adjacent literature sharing a vocabulary of mobility but exchanging few methods. Computational methods have been added to the repertoire rather than displacing established approaches. Research limitations/implications The corpus is drawn from a single English-language database, so the observed geographic concentration cannot be separated from database coverage. Corpus composition should be reported as a result rather than assumed as a premise. Practical implications Computational mobility analysis gives planners unprecedented spatial resolution but records where populations move, not why. Connecting these instruments to contextual knowledge remains concentrated in the smallest region of the network. Originality/value The first field-wide mapping of analytical approaches in migration research, contributing a structural finding about the boundary of the field and publishing its thesaurus, exclusion log and software map files rather than describing them.