A bibliometric analysis of innovation collaboration and sustainability in concrete and cementitious materials

Abstract Research on sustainable concrete and cementitious materials has expanded in response to concerns regarding cement-related emissions, construction waste, resource consumption, and infrastructure performance. This study maps the scientific development, collaboration structure, conceptual organization, temporal research attention, and intellectual foundations of 752 English-language final journal articles published between 2002 and 2025 and retrieved from Scopus on 11 September 2025. Bibliometric performance analysis was combined with author, organizational, and country co-authorship networks, author-keyword co-occurrence, keyword citation-burst detection, reference co-citation, and citation analysis using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. Publication output increased markedly after 2018 and reached 157 articles in 2024, whereas the 2020 publication cohort accumulated the highest citation count. The exceptional citation peak in 2009 was predominantly generated by a single influential review. China led publication output, citation accumulation, and international co-authorship strength, while sustained author and institutional collaboration remained concentrated within several connected groups. Six thematic orientations connected sustainability and life-cycle assessment with material performance, structural applications, recycling and infrastructure, data-driven optimization, durability, and self-healing. Citation bursts indicated a transition from broad civil-engineering and building themes toward environmental assessment, 3D printing, performance evaluation, and machine learning. Construction and demolition waste, recycled aggregates, and life-cycle assessment were prominent in the thematic and intellectual structures, with additional applications in pavement and road engineering. However, bibliometric prominence does not establish equivalent reductions in real-world carbon emissions. Future research should combine field validation with harmonized life-cycle assessment and jointly evaluate engineering performance, durability, cost, circularity, and whole-life carbon.