Knowledge structure and research frontiers of smartphone addiction across bibliographic environments (2004–2024)

Abstract Smartphone addiction (SA) has developed into a broad and increasingly differentiated research field, but its knowledge structure and temporal evolution across different bibliographic environments remain incompletely characterized. We conducted a comparative bibliometric analysis of research indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from 2004 to 2024. After screening, 1,128 publications were included, comprising 733 WoS-indexed and 395 CNKI-indexed records. Publication trends, research participation, keyword co-occurrence, thematic clustering and keyword bursts were analysed using R and CiteSpace. Publication output increased in both databases, although WoS continued to rise and reached its highest level in 2024, whereas CNKI peaked in 2021 and subsequently declined. The two datasets shared a substantial psychological and behavioural research core but differed in thematic organization. WoS-indexed research covered psychological resilience, sleep, mental health, fear of missing out, social media and academic performance, whereas CNKI-indexed research was more strongly organized around student populations, mobile phone dependence, loneliness, depression and mediating processes. Recent research frontiers also differed: WoS bursts included intervention, sleep and perceived stress, whereas CNKI bursts included self-control, social anxiety, parental behaviour, anxiety and physical exercise. These findings show that smartphone addiction research contains shared thematic concerns while its knowledge organization and temporal priorities are represented differently across bibliographic environments.