Mapping Two Decades of Negligence Law: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This study provides a bibliometric assessment of research trends on negligence and the law over the past two decades, offering an empirical overview of how scholarly attention to this foundational area of tort has evolved. Although negligence remains a central pillar of legal liability, existing literature has become increasingly fragmented across jurisdictions and interdisciplinary perspectives, creating a need for an integrated mapping of its intellectual development. To address this gap, data were collected using Scopus advanced searching, yielding a final dataset of 508 publications. The dataset was cleaned and harmonised using OpenRefine to ensure accuracy and consistency, while descriptive statistics and graphical outputs were generated through the Scopus Analyzer. Network structures including co-authorship, keyword cooccurrence, and citation patterns were visualised using VOSviewer to identify thematic clusters, influential contributors, and emerging research fronts. The numerical results reveal notable growth in publication volume, a concentration of contributions from common law jurisdictions, and the emergence of new thematic directions such as patient autonomy, professional accountability, and comparative negligence frameworks. Co-occurrence mapping shows the dominance of core concepts including duty of care, standard of care, causation, and medical negligence, while collaboration analysis highlights relatively modest but increasing international partnerships. Overall, the findings underscore both the doctrinal continuity and conceptual diversification of negligence scholarship, reflecting the field’s responsiveness to evolving social, technological, and regulatory conditions. This study not only consolidates two decades of research but also provides a structured foundation for future inquiry by identifying influential themes, underexplored areas, and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.