Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a strengths-based, participatory technique of bringing social or
organizational innovation that focuses on appreciating the best in a given situation. The
overwhelming interest of researchers in AI necessitated bibliometric analysis to review the
progression of knowledge construction and theory development in this area. This study aims
to identify the publications on AI and analyze the trends and patterns of these publications. A
bibliometric analysis of 1231 articles downloaded from the Scopus database has been done
using RStudio and VOSviewer software. The study’s findings provide an overview of the
trends and progress of research on AI. The study apprises the academic efforts in developing
a knowledge base in AI. The results show rising interest in AI after 2003, as evident from
rising publications and citations. David Cooperrider is the most assiduous author who laid
the foundation of research in the area of AI. The most prominent institution is Case Western
Reserve University, USA. Advances in Appreciative Inquiry is the journal that has published
most research in AI. The most significant keywords are action research, positive psychology,
leadership, evaluation, and change management.
Geetanjali Batra Associate Professor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship (ABVSME), Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi - 110 067, India. E-mail:
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Reetesh K Singh
Professor, Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi - 110 007, India.
E-mail:
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