ZHOU Jie, AN Peijun, XIAO Xiantao
[Purpose/significance]Starting from the related concepts of disciplinary topic evolution, this study comprehensively examines the forms and methods of disciplinary topic evolution. It identifies problems with existing concepts and shortcomings in current methods, and suggests directions for improvement, providing a reference for future research in this area. [Method/process]Using a systematic review method, the literature on disciplinary topic evolution from the CNKI and Web of Science, as well as other academic platforms, was analyzed. The study defines related concepts, summarizes the forms of disciplinary topic evolution, and systematically reviews the current state of research on methods for disciplinary topic evolution. It analyzes existing methods from different perspectives： word frequency-based methods, co-word-based methods, citation-based methods, and topic model-based methods, summarizing their respective advantages and disadvantages. [Result/conclusion]This study defines the concept of disciplinary topic evolution, clarifies the forms of disciplinary topic evolution, and summarizes the gaps in existing research, such as the unclear definition of the concept, non-standard evolution forms, single data sources and the limited diversity of analytical methods. Finally, it proposes future directions, including clarifying the connotation and extension of disciplinary topic evolution, standardizing its forms, utilizing multi-source data as data sources, and actively integrating different methods for topic evolution analysis.
