Mapping the intellectual landscape of team performance research in emergency and law enforcement contexts: a bibliometric analysis (2000–2025)

This bibliometric study maps the intellectual landscape of team performance research in emergency and law enforcement contexts from 2000 to 2025. Drawing on 863 publications indexed in Scopus, the study aims to (1) examine the evolution of research on team performance in emergency and law enforcement settings, (2) identify publication and institutional contribution patterns within the field, and (3) determine the countries, journals, and subject areas that have most influenced the development of this research domain. Using bibliometric tools, including VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and Harzing’s Publish or Perish, the analysis examines publication trends, citation patterns, disciplinary contributions, publication outlets, institutional productivity, and geographic distribution. The findings indicate a substantial increase in research output over the past two decades, with publication activity accelerating significantly after 2020 and reaching its highest level in 2024. Social Sciences emerged as the dominant subject area, followed by Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, Environmental Science, and Medicine. Journals such as Sustainability Switzerland and the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction served as major publication platforms, while the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada were the leading contributors to the field. The findings also reveal that research on team performance in emergency and law enforcement contexts has developed into a highly interdisciplinary area that integrates organizational, technological, operational, and healthcare perspectives. Despite the growth of the field, law enforcement teams remain comparatively underrepresented in the literature compared to emergency and healthcare teams. This study highlights the need for broader geographic representation, greater attention to law enforcement contexts, and more empirical investigations of teamwork in highrisk environments. By providing a comprehensive overview of publication trends, influential contributors, and disciplinary foundations, this study contributes to a better understanding of the development of team performance research and offers directions for future scholarship.