Science mapping the evolution of middle leadership research, 2002–2023

This systematic review aimed to examine the evolution of middle leadership research in a 21-year period, starting from 2002 to 2023, by employing bibliometric methods to examine the metadata of 181 documents. It summarised the key features of the middle leadership knowledge base by analysing its descriptive trends, distribution of knowledge production, key scholars, journals, and documents, and uncovered its underlying intellectual structure. The review offers insights into the development of the literature on middle leadership – a relatively new concept. The findings from this review would help scholars understand the nuances of middle leadership as well as provide insights to researchers on the current and future development of middle leadership research in schools.