Exploring the knowledge domains of social work in China: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract
This study proposes an approach to enhancing understanding of the complex social work landscape in China through a bibliometric analysis. With an initial pool of 1,123 English-language articles sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection database, R-package Bibliometrix and CiteSpace were used in this study to conduct descriptive, performance, keyword co-occurrence and co-citation analyses, with the aim of exploring the intellectual structure of social work research in the Chinese context. We have identified the high-impact journals, most cited documents, and the most prominent research clusters within this domain. Furthermore, efforts were made to facilitate exploration and comprehension of six prominent research clusters. The analysis results were intended to furnish scholars and practitioners with a contemporary and inclusive overview of the interdisciplinary and complex nature of the social work in China.

摘要
本研究提出一种方法，通过文献计量分析（bibliometric analysis）加深对中国复杂社会工作研究格局的理解。本研究从Web of Science核心合集数据库（Web of Science Core Collection）中获取1123篇英文文献作为初始数据集，采用R语言工具包Bibliometrix与CiteSpace开展描述性分析、绩效分析、关键词共现分析（keyword co-occurrence analysis）及共被引分析（co-citation analysis），旨在探究中国语境下社会工作研究的知识结构。本研究已识别出该领域内高影响力期刊、高被引文献以及最具代表性的研究集群。此外，本研究还针对六大代表性研究集群开展了系统探索与深度解读。本研究的分析结果旨在为学者与实务工作者提供兼具时效性与全面性的综述，以展现中国社会工作的跨学科属性与复杂特征。