Bibliometric visualisation of industrial and organisational psychology during COVID-19 pandemic: Insight for future research

Abstract

Orientation: Industrial and organisational psychology (IOP) researchers have shown their contribution to solving COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace through the enormous number of studies.

Research purpose: This study intended to map IOP research related to the COVID-19 crisis to provide the research issues that have emerged and potential for future research.

Motivation for the study: All the IOP levels (worker, team and organisation) were impacted by COVID-19, and they continuously change. Researchers must be careful in directing their research and avoid focusing on certain levels or problems.

Research approach/design and method: A bibliometric visualisation analysis method was adopted in this study.

Main findings: The bibliometric results showed that the prominent keywords in IOP research-related COVID-19 are ‘human(s)’, ‘COVID-19’, keywords related to subject characteristics and mental health. Six clusters on the map showed the prominent themes: mental health, health care workers as the research subject, specific workplace issues, digital technology, methodologies used, and country. Furthermore, in every cluster, the depth overview of study results is presented. The top issues were at the worker-level, while the organisational-level issues gained limited attention.

Practical/managerial implications: For practitioners and managers, this study provides a complete picture of emerging issues during COVID-19 crisis ranging from causes, risk factors and solutions. For researchers, this study can provide insight for further research.

Contribution/value-add: This study provides a comprehensive overview of the IOP issues related-COVID-19 that will be beneficial as the basis for policymaking and recommendations for future potential areas.