Mapping the nexus: A bibliometric analysis of critical minerals research for energy transition

Critical minerals are key to achieve carbon neutrality. Many scholars have recognized this issue and engaged in such an emerging field. Several review articles have been published to summarize the research progress of this field. But these existing literatures are more qualitative and lack quantitative, visual, and thematic reflections. This study fills such a research gap by conducting a bibliometric analysis for the period of 2009- 2025. Citespace and VOSviewer are used to visualize the intellectual landscape, while an LDA topic model is applied to examine the abstracts in depth. The results show that this field experienced rapid growth since 2021, in which China, the United States, the European Union, and Australia are key involved countries. Research topics cover from resource endowments to technological applications and innovation, as well as national strategies and global sustainability. Three core themes are uncovered, including supply chain security under the energy transition context, resource recovery technologies for critical metals, and geological exploration of critical minerals. Based upon these findings, future research directions are proposed, such as supply chain management, geopolitical risk assessment, and environmental justice.