Uncovering the intellectual development of the Journal of Organizational Change Management: A knowledge-stock and bibliometric study, 1995-2011

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the documents which have had the greatest impact on the Journal of Organizational Change Management (JOCM) articles and to analyze the evolution of the intellectual structure of the journal. Design/methodology/approach – A knowledge-stock analysis is performed to assess major trends of the JOCM. A bibliometric study is then conducted thanks to citation and co-citation analysis about the documents which are the most cited by the articles published in the JOCM (between 1995 and 2011). Findings – Through the results of their analysis, the authors: describe the growing stock of knowledge of the JOCM over time; identify the documents having the strongest influence on the JOCM articles; and pinpoint the evolution of the intellectual structure of the journal. Research limitations/implications – Although the sample of retained articles seems representative of the JOCM publication efforts, the data set presents some limitations. There are also some limits inherent to the research design and to the bibliometric methods. The intention of the present research is to give a quantitative overview of the intellectual evolution of the journal. Practical implications – Grasping the intellectual development of the JOCM enables researchers and practitioners to better understand how issues are being approached by authors who publish in this journal. It also stimulates the scholarly debate. Originality/value – This knowledge-stock and bibliometric study is the first to be concerned with the JOCM