Co-word analysis
Bibliometrics
Definition. Co-word analysis examines how often keywords appear together in documents to map the conceptual structure and themes of a field.
Explanation
It is widely used to identify research themes and their evolution, as in mapping global research on health equity (Sarikhani et al., 2025). Reviewers should check how keywords were cleaned and merged, because choices strongly affect results (Hoang, 2025).
Related concepts
Science mapping Bibliometric analysis Thematic analysis
Read on The Health Topics
- Mapping Global Health Equity Research: A Bibliometric Study
- Evaluating Bibliometrics: A Practical Peer Review Guide
References
Hoang, A.-D. (2025). Evaluating Bibliometrics Reviews: A Practical Guide for Peer Review and Critical Reading. Evaluation Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X251336839
Sarikhani, Y., Kalavani, A., & Najibi, S. M. (2025). Scientific Mapping of Global Research on Health Equity by 2023: A Bibliometric Study. Health Science Reports.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Co-word analysis. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/co-word-analysis/