Analyzing the scientific evolution and impact of e-Participation research in JCR journals using science mapping

This study presents a science mapping approach to analysing the thematic evolution of e-Participation research. We combine different bibliometric tools to analyse the evolution of the cognitive structure of this research topic, allowing us to discover the most prominent, productive and highest-impact subfields. In addition, we are able to identify thematic areas and show their evolutionary behaviour, supported by different visualization tools to show a graphical and dynamic vision of the e-Participation field. Findings indicate an increase in e-Participation research in the last five years, and the evolution of this field of knowledge to a more techno-social system in order to engage the citizenry in public sector management.