Information and communication technology applications in construction organizations : a scientometric review

Abstract

The application and research of Information and Communication Technology has exponentially grown in construction and is of a multidiscipline nature. However, there is a lack of investigation into progression of ICT research topics within the construction disciplines and the knowledge domain has not been deeply explored. This research fills this gap using a scientometric review of construction ICT research. Relevant literature from reputable sources are reviewed and classified to create a comprehensive framework for ICT application in construction. Accordingly, a manual review of research titles, as well as abstracts, was conducted. Accordingly, five analysis steps were performed including Journals Selection, Publication Type and Name Citation Analysis, Keywords Co -Occurrence Network, Cluster Analysis, and Keyword time analysis. A total of 376 research selected for burst detection, co-citation analysis, cluster analysis, keyword co-releases, and ICT application analysis in order to provide a comprehensive knowledge summary of the ICT application in the construction industry. Automation in Construction and Journal of Management in Engineering were identified as the major journals associated with research on the ICT application in the construction industry. Based on the research method, the articles used for scientometric analysis were only selected from Scopus and Web of Science database. Moreover, the study mainly concentrated on the quantitative analysis in regard to articles emerging frequently the knowledge domain, and were used to indicate the trends, timelines and hot topics. This research explores the construction industry body of knowledge by classifying the existing ICT related research, evolutionary trend, providing current status, a comprehensive knowledge framework, and future directions.